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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 SS force former jeweler Mordecai Wulkan to do?

2. How much does Oskar use to bribe the SS man to buy him a bottle of vodka in Chapter 11?

3. The street on which Oskar Schindler's apartment was located ended at. . .

4. How much did Oskar send his father in a monthly bank draft?

5. In the Prologue, Schindler remarks that Goeth turns into what when drunk?

Short Essay Questions

1. Chapter 4 deals primarily with the SS Aktion in Kazimierz and gives some history of prior persecution of Jews. Describe one way Oskar Schindler mitigated the risks he took by warning the people in Buchheister of the coming Aktion.

2. How did young Olek Rosner get some water when the train from Goleszow finally stopped?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 14, Keneally says "Even in the summer of 1942 it was impossible to guess at the connections between such a man as this and those ovens of extraordinary cubic capacity." What does he mean by this?

4. Of Schindler's first arrest, Keneally writes "he would have enjoyed a radio." What does that tell you about Schindler?

5. The funeral pyres described in Chapter 27 signal the beginning of the end for Plaszow, yet there is no description of any panic or worry on the part of the prisoners. Having read the descriptions of the prisoners to this point, explain why you think this is so.

6. Chapter 25 describes Oskar's arrangement of a tour of Plaszow by Babar and Sedlacek, complete with a miniature camera. Emalia is only recently established. Why would Oskar take such a risk?

7. Oskar promises Edith Liebgold she'll live through the war if she works at DEF. What have you read to this point in the book to indicate Schindler intended on keeping this promise?

8. Of the approximately 10,000 men who began the march from Auschwitz toward Gross-Rosen, about how many actually arrived, and what happened to those who didn't?

9. Little Genia has a fictitious "family." Why?

10. In Chapter 5, Keneally mentions the Germans' "resettlement policy." What was meant by that term?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify at least three traits of Oskar Schindler's personality and then detail how they affected the story. What difference did these traits make in the decision he made? Did Keneally's description of Oskar and his actions always seem true to these traits? If not, where did it seem to diverge?

Essay Topic 2

Keneally begins his book with character descriptions and backgrounds, both Jew and German. Even the Prologue is more character-driven than plot-driven. The plot of the book doesn't really begin until after we know the players. Why do you think Keneally did that? What advantages does that offer for the book or the reader? What disadvantages?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 11, Oskar is arrested for the first time. At the end of Chapter 11, Keneally says, "Oskar was convinced, as he thanked the man, that the acquittal was temporary." Why do you think Oskar might have believed that? He was, of course, arrested again. After the first arrest, why do you think Oskar Schindler didn't change what he was doing to avoid the future arrest? Write at least one page outlining your thoughts about Oskar's actions and motivations, and use at least one specific example from the book to back up your statement.

(see the answer keys)

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