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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 which city did Viktor live?

2. What is this the name of the affair that was seen as the peak of anti-Semitism in France?

3. What businessman was given the title of King of the Jews?

4. What was the only place in the world that had a bigger population of Jews than Vienna?

5. What was the name of the writer who famously supported Dreyfus?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Drumont write about Jews in his anti-Semetic newspaper?

2. How did Charles start collecting?

3. What does Edmund learn about Charles at the end of Chapter 3?

4. What were Herr Wessel's teaching methods?

5. Describe the Ringstrasse when it was first built in Vienna.

6. What problems were Charles and his relative having at the end of Chapter 20?

7. Why was Japan a box of sweets for foreigners in the 1880s?

8. What was the family's goal in terms of their grain business?

9. How did Charles help Laforgue?

10. What passion did Charles and his love share?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the book's chronological setting.

1. What were the main concerns during the early part of the 20th century? How does the author express these concerns?

2. How would the author change the book if it was set in today's society?

Essay Topic 2

What does de Waal learn about his family in the book? Why is it so important for him to know about his family? How will this new knowledge about his family help him?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the main themes of the story. In what way are these themes relevant to the period? How does the author use character and setting to express these themes?

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