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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 is another word for 'odd' according to one of the students?

2. Since war also came to Kosovo, what did almost all young Yugoslavians know?

3. According to Zlata, what is important about what happens to people?

4. Where does Gruwell student teaching?

5. To what does Gruwell compare the Capulets and Montagues in Romeo and Juliet?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Gerda Seifer?

2. What happens to a Croatian boy named Tony?

3. What does Zlata mean when she says we cannot erase evil from the world, but can change the way we deal with it?

4. Why is Gruwell frustrated at the beginning of the semester in the spring of 1995?

5. Why does one student feel like Cinderella after a dinner at the Century City Marriott?

6. What journey begins for Gruwell as the book opens?

7. Why does a student transfer from the Distinguished Scholars program to Gruwell's class?

8. Why did Zlata begin writing a diary and how did her diary evolve?

9. Describe a tour through the Museum of Tolerance.

10. Why is Gruwell stereotyped by some of the other teachers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During the spring semester of 1996, Tommy makes a statement: "They say America is the 'Land of the Free and home of the Brave,' but what's so free about a land where people get killed?" What does Tommy mean by this statement? What examples does he give to demonstrate what he means by this statement? Why does Tommy make this statement? What is he comparing when he makes this statement?

Essay Topic 2

A theme in the book is the parallel between warfare as experienced by Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic and the violence the students see in their everyday lives. How can the events in Anne's and Zlata's lives be compared to the student's lives? What kind of violence did Frank and Filipovic experience? What type of violence do the students experience? How is the violence that Anne and Zlata experienced similar or dissimilar to what the students face?

Essay Topic 3

In the foreword to the book, Zlata mentions that good comes out of something bad. Several students, also mention in their diary entries how something bad turns into something positive. Write about what Zlata means that good comes from bad. What examples does Zlata give that shows good comes from bad circumstances? What do students say about difficult circumstances providing positive results? Provide examples from the book when something seems negative, but leads to positive results.

(see the answer keys)

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