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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. In Chapter 7, Itzhak Stern visits Schindler to tell him that a family was spreading stories about Schindler. How does Keneally refer to this family?

2. What types of records does Keneally say were kept of Schindler's black-market deals?

3. When new identity cards are issued, what do workers at Schindler's Emalia factory get stamped on theirs?

4. What is the name of Schindler's wife?

5. With the assistance of Stern, Schindler obtains:

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Chapter 23 tells the story of Regina Perlman, a Jew living under forged South American papers. She goes to Schindler to beg for the transfer of her parents to Emalia. What were the risks on both sides of this transaction?

3. Describe how the dinner party contrasts with the season Keneally describes in the book's Prologue.

4. What benefits does Leopold Pfefferberg bring to the ghetto citizenry via his membership in the OD?

5. Write a short description of what you think an Aktion would have looked like to a Jew in Cracow in 1940.

6. Mila and Poldek Pfefferberg meet and marry in the Jewish ghetto. Why might Keneally have included this information in the midst of the ghetto clearance, in which thousands were killed.

7. In Chapter 1, Keneally says "For Oskar, the Thirties must have seemed a mere epilogue to his glorious mistake on the Altvater circuit in the summer of '28." What does he mean by that?

8. Oskar eventually returns to Frankfurt, where he decides to go into industry again. What type of business does he open?

9. In Chapter 27, the burning of the bodies begins at Plaszow. Keneally says "In the enthusiasm of the spring of 1943, bodies--notably the bodies of those killed in the ghetto's last two days--were thrown randomly into mass graves in the woods." Having read of the number killed in the ghetto clearances, and knowing how many have been killed since at Plaszow, describe how you think this level of murder could be completely hidden. If you think it cannot be completely hidden, tell why you think that.

10. After some of the war crimes trials, Oskar uses money from the Joint Distribution Committee to become a farmer of sorts. What does he decide to farm, and where?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Chapters 26-30 are full of powerful imagery: the courtship of Rebecca and Josef even as new fences are being built, the smoke of the crematoria in the country air, and the ever-increasing burdens that Schindler has to overcome to keep his Jewish workers safe. We're also more than halfway through the book. Examine the imagery in this section of the book, as well as its placement in the plot line and with the story development. What changes do we see in Schindler from chapter 26 to chapter 30? What techniques and story details does Keneally use to avoid the "sagging middle" here? Write at least one page answering the above questions, and cite at least three specific examples from within these chapters in your essay.

Essay Topic 2

Oskar Schindler resisted the Nazi occupation by hiring Jews, rather than choosing a more vocal or forceful resistance. Why do you think he chose this path? Potentially, he could have been more vocal, or even have become a spy, since he had some experience in that field. Talk about other forms of resistance he could have chosen, and why you believe, based on what you've read in the book, he chose to "resist" via his factory. Use at least one specific example from the book to back up your statement.

Essay Topic 3

For a character to be memorable, he or she must grow during the course of the novel--in other words, the character cannot be the same person inside that he or she was at the outset. Describe how Oskar Shindler changed and grew during the novel. Use at least one specific example from the beginning of the novel, and at least one specific example from the end of the novel to illustrate your point.

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