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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what age did Hanna join the army?

2. What happens to Sophie?

3. How long does the narrator wait before going back to Frau Schmitz's apartment?

4. When is the indictment read?

5. One of the main charges in the case involved a bombing; where was the bombing? Who survived?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Hanna's bold and unconventional move during the trial, as outlined in Chapter 6.

2. In Part 2, Chapter 4, how does Michael compare the trial to being a prisoner in a death camp?

3. What does Michael do, in Chapter 17, when he realizes Hanna has disappeared?

4. What makes Frau (Hanna) Schmitz so angry in Chapter 8?

5. Describe Hanna's life, as she tells it to Michael in Chapter 9.

6. Describe the memory the narrator discusses in Chapter 7, when he is four years old. Why is it significant?

7. Why is the evidence actually favorable to the defendants, as explained in Chapter 7?

8. Describe the bicycle trip that Michael and Hanna take during Michael's Easter vacation.

9. What does Michael do in the weeks after he and Hanna have their first fight?

10. Describe the building on Bahnhofstrasse.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Michael's family makes brief appearances in the novel. At the end of Part 1, Chapter 7, Michael notes that he feels as though he is saying his "final goodbyes" to them, although no one is going anywhere. Why might Michael have said that? What does his family symbolize? What, perhaps, were the author's intentions of having a young, teenaged Michael so emotionally estranged from his family?

Essay Topic 2

In Part 3, Chapter 1, Michael describes a "German fate." What is the German fate? How does Michael equate the pain of his love for Hanna to his own German fate? How does their relationship parallel the generational conflict in Germany?

Essay Topic 3

In Part 1, Chapter 9, Michael asks "Why does what was beautiful suddenly shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths?" What does this foreshadow? Do you agree with Michael that happiness about something cannot be regained if the memory ends in unhappiness? Why or why not? How does this question relate to the novel as a whole?

(see the answer keys)

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