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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. On what condition is Josef's father released?

2. Isabel knows that Ivan and his father are actually building a boat in order to travel where?

3. Who takes Josef and the other children on a tour of the ship?

4. How many Jewish men must gather to form a minyan in order to comply with Jewish law in the holding of a bar mitzvah?

5. Who does not attend Josef's bar mitzvah, much to Josef's dismay?

Short Essay Questions

1. List some of Isabel's and the other boat passengers' expectations of what life will be like in America.

2. What event is just about to happen when the motor of Isabel's family's boat splutters and dies?

3. What qualities of Senor Castillo's lead to his role as the leader on the boat?

4. How does Mahmoud feel about invisibility?

5. What is the author's purpose for characterizing the Nazis terrorizing Josef's family as "shadows"? (1)

6. Why does Isabel feel awe in response to the riots in Cuba in addition to fear?

7. Compare and contrast Josef's thoughts about the ship's full speed with Captain Schroeder's comments about the ship's full speed.

8. What U.S. policies change and make it harder for Cuban people to seek refuge in the United States?

9. What is ironic about Josef's feelings following his bar mitzvah?

10. How does Josef feel about invisibility?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the novel Refugee from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 2

What is the novel's message concerning the link between ignorance and hatred?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's inclusion of one of the following motifs within the novel: sound, images of leaders' faces, or music.

(see the answer keys)

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