View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. After the December 4th Aktion, Itzhak Stern decides that Oskar Schindler is:

3. 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?

4. How long did Schindler court Emilie before marrying her?

5. In the Prologue, the narrator remarks that only Schindler, Madritsch, and Titsch regularly spent money on this commodity. What is it?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think the shopkeepers at the beginning of Chapter 2 accepted worthless currency in exchange for perfectly good bolts of cloth?

2. 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?

3. How does witnessing the activities in Krakusa Street affect Schindler?

4. In Chapter 26, Keneally states, "but he (Raimund Titsch) was never the sort of man concerning whom mythologies arose. Oskar was." What does Keanally mean by that?

5. Keneally writes that Schindler was "frightened" after his second arrest. What was different this time that made him unable to laugh off this arrest as he did the first?

6. In Chapter 33, Keneally describes three women who made it into the line of women heading for Schindler's camp in Brinnlitz. He says, "for her as for the other two, it was a birthday." What does he mean by that?

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

8. 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.

9. While Titsch does not join Oskar's facory, he does help him add names to the list before it is finalized. Personnel clerk Marcel Goldberg, however, then commences to "tinker" with the names. Based on what you've read in the book, what did Goldberg gain from this tinkering?

10. In Chapter 31, Schindler tries to convince Madritsch to move his factory, along with Emalia, and work together to save even more Jews than Oskar could save alone. What reasoning does Keneally give for Madritsch's refusal to agree to this right away.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The characters in the novel experienced every kind of emotion possible. Do you think Keneally was simply trying to tell the story of Oskar Schindler with this book, or was he trying to elicit emotions in the reader? State your reasoning, and back it up with specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Oskar Schindler made huge sums of money during the war, yet he died penniless, supported by those he saved. He tried starting two different businesses in two different countries, both of which failed. What factors did you recognize from the book that may have contributed to his ability to succeed during the war, but inability to make money in business after the war?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 925 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample