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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. What time of year is it in Chapter 3, Part 3?

2. How long does it take to read the verdict?

3. What has Michael noticed about Hanna's voice at the end of Part 3, Chapter 9?

4. What does Michael's wife say about his choice of job?

5. What does Michael do after his exams, something he has not done in a long while?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Michael dream about on the train from Boston to New York, on the way to visit the daughter from the trial?

2. How does Hanna respond to Michael's questions about the trial and their relationship?

3. How do the Michael's feelings about the trial become "awakened" in Chapter 3?

4. What does Michael say about his relationships after Gertrud?

5. What decision does Michael struggle with at the beginning of Chapter 4, and why?

6. What does Michael receive at the beginning of Chapter 6, and why does this cause him great joy?

7. Describe the driver Michael hitches a ride with in Chapter 14.

8. Although Michael is happy, why does he also feel sorry for Hanna?

9. Describe Gertrud and the relationship she develops with Michael as described in Chapter 2.

10. Of Hanna's possessions, what does the daughter decide to keep, and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Give examples of the instances in which Michael realizes Hanna gave clues to her illiteracy. Why was it necessary for Michael to be far removed from his life and the trial in order to come to the revelation that Hanna could not read or write? Why does Michael reason that Hanna is fighting her own battle of justice?

Essay Topic 2

In Part 1, Chapter 5 Michael says that he recognizes a life pattern in himself, and that "often enough in my life I have done things I had not decided to do." What does Michael mean by this? Describe and give examples of the disconnect Michael feels between making a decision and completing an action. How does this act as a foreshadowing of Michael's later behavior?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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