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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. Who is occupying the Michauds' seats when they reach the car they are to travel to Tours in?

2. What does Jules Blanc tell Florence during their telephone conversation?

3. What are the names of the young women that are nursing Jean-Marie Michaud back to health?

4. What character is introduced in Chapter 3?

5. Who has a fondness for champagne and fruit?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Michauds.

2. What is Maurice Michaud's view of the migration and his feelings regarding his situation?

3. What is the atmosphere of Paris and among its citizens in Chapters 5 and 6?

4. Describe the feelings of Hubert Pericand about the war between Germany and France.

5. How does Chapter 20, with the scene of the cat in the garden, contrast with Chapter 21, as the Pericands flee the burning village?

6. Describe the character of Charlotte Pericand.

7. According to the conversation between Hortense, Jules, and Aline, what are their feelings toward the rich?

8. What does Philippe Pericand volunteer to do when the citizens of Paris begin to evacuate the city?

9. What are Philippe Pericand's feelings toward the children of the Children's Home?

10. What is the status of Jean-Marie Michauds health in Chapter 24?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A few characters in the novel seem reluctant to evacuate Paris and bothered by the fact that they have to share the plight of the exodus with regular people. These characters are desperate to separate themselves from everyone else and the war. Discuss the idea of separating one's self from the war. Which characters refuse to accept the reality of the situation? How do they separate themselves from the war and the other refugees? Are they successful? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

In the beginning of the novel, the many different characters introduced in the novel appear to only have in common their terrible plight of living and trying to survive in France during the German attack and subsequent occupation during World War II. However, as the novel progresses, many of these characters cross paths and affect the lives of other characters. Describe some of these instances where characters' paths cross. How do these seemingly unconnected characters affect each others' lives either in small or in big ways? How does this affect the novel? What does this tell us about the world in general?

Essay Topic 3

All of the different socio-economic classes in France at the time are represented through the different characters in the novel. Identify a character or family of characters that represent each different class, from servants to the working class to the middle class to the upper class. How does the war affect the people in the classes differently? Are the poor more susceptible to the negative attributes of war than the people in the middle and upper classes? How do people from the different classes view the war and the occupation?

(see the answer keys)

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