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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What causes Helmut to smile for the first time in a photo?
(a) He is a soldier.
(b) He is recently named Berlin's historian.
(c) He meets his parents again after a long time.
(d) He meets with Gladigau again after a long time.

2. Who is the first to indicate Helmut's disability to him?
(a) Papi.
(b) Gladigau.
(c) The train station guard.
(d) The sports teacher.

3. Why is Mutti "clever" for having something on the table every night?
(a) She is able to make dinner despite their poverty.
(b) She helps Helmut's arm get stronger.
(c) Mutti is a busy woman with a full-time job.
(d) Mutti is a first-class chef.

4. What disagreement occurs between Gladigau and Helmut?
(a) Whether Helmut should approach Papi about his feelings.
(b) Whether the Nazi party are good people.
(c) Whether the gypsies deserved the beatings.
(d) Whether or not to evacuate Berlin.

5. How does the reader know the woman who helps Lore is also in bad shape?
(a) The food she offers is spoiled.
(b) The blankets she lends them are worn through.
(c) She lives in a shed.
(d) There is no soap or extra food.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lore do with the badges of the party?

2. How does Helmut feel as the war progresses?

3. Who is Lore's family hiding from when they go into hiding?

4. What secret must Lore and her siblings hide from strangers?

5. Who does Vati work for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Germany attacks its neighbors and gains more lands that are prosperous. Neither Helmut nor anyone in his neighborhood seems to argue the Third Reich's actions. In fact, many boys are signing up to fight the war. Why would some Germans welcome the war and the push into other countries?

2. When Lore offers to buy food from the woman who gives her bread and milk, she asks if Lore has anything other than money. Why does the woman not prefer money?

3. When Germany takes Paris, there is a large celebration. Mutti and Papi attend but they do not ask him to go. When they return they meet him at the train station and leave looking like a happy family. Explain Mutti and Papi's actions.

4. Helmut has the opportunity to work as a soldier five years into the war. What are Helmut's thoughts and feelings towards being a soldier?

5. Germany is in the midst of war and has been for several years. The second bombing that Helmut experiences is the worst so far. Describe the new changes and routine to which the inhabitants of Berlin must adapt.

6. As part of Papi's pay, Gladigau takes family portraits while Helmut grows up. How do the family portraits play a role in this story and what progression is observed from when Helmut is a newborn to the last individual photo?

7. Helmut notices the city is emptying. More people are leaving on the trains and less are returning. This is a mystery and Seiffert never explicitly offers an explanation. Why not?

8. Mutti and Papi love their son, but there is a stubborn denial that there is anything wrong with Helmut. What does it finally take them to accept the truth and how do they handle it?

9. Lore asks the woman for more food for her siblings but the woman initially responds with a look of possible fear. Why might the woman be afraid?

10. Why is Lore's family moving around and hiding in the farm valley? From whom are they hiding?

(see the answer keys)

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