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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 gesture does Danny Saunders make that indicates to Reuven he is showing sympathy for Reuven and his father in Chapter 14?

2. Danny Saunders applies to programs at what three educational institutions in Chapter 17?

3. Reuven comes to believe that his Talmud teacher sympathizes with what viewpoint in the end of Chapter 14?

4. Where is Reuven’s father when he collapses and is taken to the hospital in Chapter 14?

5. When did President Franklin Delano Roosevelt die?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of Danny’s discussion of silence in Chapter 17?

2. What is the central theme of Chapter 18? How does this theme relate to silence?

3. How is the relationship between Danny and Reuven illustrated in Chapter 15?

4. What does Danny discuss in depth with Professor Appleman in Chapter 13?

5. What does Reuven remark about the relationship between Reb Saunders and Danny in Chapter 12?

6. What does Reuven observe about Reb Saunders’ behavior in Chapter 12?

7. What gesture does Danny make to intimate his sympathy for Reuven in Chapter 14?

8. What does Reuven’s father realize about Reb Saunders’ silence with Danny in Chapter 17?

9. What viewpoints does Chapter 12 present regarding the creation of Israel?

10. What is the central conflict in Chapter 14? How does Reuven feel about Danny’s absence?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the setting of Williamsburg, Brooklin in the 1930s. What ethnic and religious groups lived principally in this neighborhood at the time? How inclusive is Reuven’s neighborhood? What is a “brownstone” and how are these houses set up? How wealthy is Reuven’s family?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Reuven’s conversation with Reb Saunders in Chapter 8. How does Reuven feel when confronted about Danny’s actions? Does he feel as if he is betraying his friend? How does Danny feel that his father did not speak to him directly?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character of Reb Saunders in the novel. What are Reuven’s feelings about Reb Saunders? How does Danny communicate with his father? How does Reb Saunders differ from David Malter?

(see the answer keys)

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