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

2. During Isabel's boat journey, her grandfather Lito tells her that she does have family in what part of the world?

3. What does Mahmoud buy for his brother Waleed in one of the shops at the refugee camp in Turkey?

4. When Señor Castillo asks Isabel's father what he wants to do when he gets to America, what is Isabel's father's reply?

5. What does Ivan want to be when he grows up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the clave?

2. How does Josef view the difference between life on the ship above decks and life on the ship below decks?

3. Why do Josef and the other kids on the ship tour become uneasy when they hear some members of the crew singing "The Horst Wessel Song" (95)?

4. Of everyone in Mahmoud's family, who comes the closest to losing his or her life when the apartment is hit by a missile?

5. What does Mahmoud buy for his little brother Waleed at a shop in the Turkish refugee camp and what does he hope to achieve with his purchase?

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

7. What happens the first two times Isabel's father tries to journey to America from Cuba?

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

9. How is irony employed within the author's choice of the material that lines Isabel's boat?

10. When Isabel and Ivan are incredulous that Lito had had many chances to leave Cuba over the years and had not done so, what reasons does Lito give for not leaving?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of the novel and one of the novel's main messages. How does the author make connections between these elements and how does their juxtaposition help the author get across one main message of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Choose three major symbols within the narrative and discuss in an essay the connections between these three symbols and three major themes present within the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how and why the author instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of Alan Gratz's Refugee.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,183 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample