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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 is Michael paying attention to during his discussion in Part 2, Chapter 16?

2. Where does Michael go in the beginning of Part 2, Chapter 14?

3. In Part 3, Chapter 1, where does Michael move during the summer after the trial?

4. When does Michael go to the prison for the first time?

5. Who does Michael go to see in the beginning of Part 2, Chapter 16?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Michael speaks to Hanna, right before she is released, at the end of chapter 9?

2. What does Michael do to prepare for Hanna's release in Chapter 9?

3. What does Michael do during the summer after the trial, as described in Part 3, Chapter 1?

4. In Chapter 17, how does Michael describe Hanna at her sentencing?

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

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

7. What does the prison warden tell Michael about Hanna and her time in prison?

8. In Chapter 16, why does Michael say he "finds it unendurable to do nothing"?

9. What does Michael do upon returning from New York at the end of Chapter 12?

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

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 2, Chapter 14, Michael has an exchange with a man who gives him a ride to the concentration camp. How does their conversation illustrate the disconnect between Michael's generation and that of his elders? How are their opinions about the war and justice similar, and how do they differ?

Essay Topic 3

During the trials it is discovered that Hanna had "favorite" prisoners, young women who were too weak to work, whom she had read to her much like Michael. What can the reader draw from this discovery? How does Michael feel about this? How could this revelation change the way in which the reader sees Hanna?

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