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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 has Gretel hung on her bedroom walls in Chapter Sixteen: "The Haircut"?

2. What does Bruno’s father discover about the fence in Chapter Twenty: "The Last Chapter"?

3. On what day does Bruno tell Shmuel he is returning to Berlin in Chapter Eighteen: "Thinking Up the Final Adventure"?

4. Lieutenant Kotler says in Chapter Thirteen: "The Bottle of Wine" that his father was a professor of what?

5. What does Gretel do every day once she and her mother return to Berlin in Chapter Twenty: "The Last Chapter"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the friendship between Shmuel and Bruno develop in Chapter Thirteen: "The Bottle of Wine"?

2. What happens as Bruno begins to get ready to leave the camp in Chapter Nineteen: "What Happened the Next Day"?

3. How does Bruno “let slip” about Shmuel to his sister in Chapter Fourteen: "Bruno Tells a Perfectly Reasonable Lie"? How does he cover up this revelation?

4. Who is represented by the character called “the Fury” in the novel?

5. How does Bruno’s family respond to his disappearance in Chapter Twenty: "The Last Chapter"?

6. How does your opinion of Bruno’s father and his role at the camp change throughout the narrative? What is Bruno’s father’s objective?

7. What leads to Lieutenant Kotler’s berating of Shmuel in Chapter Fifteen: "Something He Shouldn't Have Done"?

8. How does Bruno’s father respond to the suggestion from his wife that she and the children leave Out-With in Chapter Seventeen: "Mother Gets Her Own Way"?

9. What lead to Bruno’s “haircut” in Chapter Sixteen: "The Haircut"?

10. How is the weather described when Bruno goes to meet Shmuel in Chapter Nineteen: "What Happened the Next Day"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Bruno’s impressions of Herr Lizst in the narrative. How old is Herr Liszt? Where does this character live in relation to Bruno’s home at Out-With? What subjects does Herr Liszt stress the importance of to Bruno?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the internal resistance to the Nazi regime during World War II. How many Germans opposed Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich? Of these, how many people defected? Why would Bruno’s grandmother have been a likely character to have opposed the Nazis?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of family in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. How does Bruno feel about his family in the beginning of the novel? How does Maria’s story about Bruno’s father change his perception of him? How is the theme of family represented symbolically in the end of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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