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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 does the concierge do as the girl and her mother leave the building?

2. How old is the girl's brother?

3. What does the waiter at the café tell Julia and Bamber about?

4. What is Bertrand's reaction when Julia tells him about her pregnancy?

5. What is stamped on the family's identity cards?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does pregnancy mean for Julia?

2. When and where does "Sarah's Key" take place?

3. How does it happen that two members of the family do not go with the police?

4. Where are the girl and her parents sent to, before their final destination?

5. Describe the conditions at Beaune-la-Rolande.

6. What does Mame Tézac have to do with the events of the Vel d'Hiv' roundup?

7. What does the girl do when the girls are separated from their mothers?

8. How does the narrator describe the site of Vel d'Hiv'?

9. How does the narrator characterize Julia and Zoe?

10. Describe the girl's escape with Rachel.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Julia is dismayed by the ignorance surrounding Drancy and Vel d'Hiv', and she finds small plaques commemorating what took place there, but mostly she finds that people have moved on, and either do not remember or do not care about the past. What do you think is an appropriate form of memorializing the events of the roundup and the Holocaust? When is it appropriate for a place to 'move on' and when is it appropriate that should time remain stopped at the moment of the atrocities?

Essay Topic 2

Julia Jaramond is an American who has spent twenty-five years in France, and Sarah Starzynski is a Polish Jew living in Paris. Describe the importance, in "Sarah's Key", of nationality and home. Who feels 'at home' and how are these characters different from characters who have a different relationship with place?

Essay Topic 3

In what way is "Sarah's Key" an allegorical novel? What does Julia's baby symbolize? What other symbols give "Sarah's Key" a deeper meaning than the literal? How does the novel teach a moral, or resolve a symbolic problem?

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This section contains 778 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample