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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 1942 what is Helmuth's last request?

2. What does Helmuth do on New Year's Eve in 1941?

3. What does Brother Worbs pray for in a prayer on New Year's Eve 1940?

4. In 1940 what river do British bombers follow when they bomb Hamburg?

5. On New Year's Eve 1940 what food do Helmuth, Rudi, and Brother Worbs have?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Duwer tell the Gestapo about his involvement with Helmuth?

2. What is the interrogation room like when Helmuth is interrogated a second time by the Gestapo?

3. What does Helmuth discover at his workplace after he graduates from school?

4. How does Helmuth feel as 1940 ends?

5. When Gerhard comes home in 1941, what does he look like?

6. Where does Gerhard go for his mandatory Reich Labor Service and what does he do?

7. How do Helmuth, Rudi, and Brother Worbs spend New Year's Eve in 1940?

8. When Helmuth tells Hugo what he is writing his thesis for graduation, what does Hugo tell him?

9. How does Helmuth feel after he betrays Karl and Rudi and why does he decide that he must live?

10. What is it like at the train station when Helmuth and his family say good-bye to Gerhard?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is told from a third-person omniscient point of view. How does having an omniscient narrator help readers understand events and characters? How does the point of view determine how readers view the story and the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Helmuth reads in a book by Heinrich Mann that “revolutions are rare because people are too selfish.” What happens to people who dare to question Hitler’s government? What do most people in the novel do when they see injustice or lose freedoms? Based on what the author reveals about characters and their actions, are people too selfish to revolt against Hitler?

Essay Topic 3

A song that Helmuth sings and a prayer that Worbs prays in 1940 are considered subversive. What are some things that Hitler declared to be subversive? Why does he ban those things? How and why does Hitler use censorship to ban things that he considers to be subversive?

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