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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 is the family transported away from their neighborhood?

2. What does the father do when the girl and her mother are leaving?

3. What is the girl's father's occupation?

4. How do the girl's parents react when they hear about the boy?

5. How old is the girl's brother?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Julia Jaramond's relationship with her husband.

2. What does pregnancy mean for Julia?

3. What do the yellow stars signify?

4. What happens when the girl and her parents arrive at Beaune-la-Rolande?

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

6. Describe the girl's escape with Rachel.

7. How does the narrator say the girl and her mother react differently to the conditions at Beaune-la-Rolande?

8. What lead does Julia get for gathering more information about Vel d'Hiv' during her trip there?

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

10. How does the narrator characterize Julia and Zoe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 2

How well made is "Sarah's Key" as a novel? Is it tight, with artful use of theme, motif, metaphor and imagery? Or does it wander, with images and themes coming up and disappearing over time? Does the novel's construction seem deliberate and artful or something else?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 682 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample