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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 painter did Charles help out when he was broke?

2. What was the name of Viktor's wife?

3. Who does the Princess regard to be her Mahout?

4. What was the main export out of Odessa?

5. What country does the author say was like a box of sweets?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence does de Waal to prove Charles was friends with all the great Paris artists of the late 19th century?

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

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

4. How did Charles live his life differently from his brothers?

5. What does Edmund think was strange about Charles' relationship with the Impressionist painters?

6. What was Sichel's view of Japan?

7. What was expected of Viktor and his friends?

8. What were Herr Wessel's teaching methods?

9. How does Edmund describe his family's palais?

10. How did the Dreyfus affair change Charles' attitude towards life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Why do the students think de Waal only shows the life of the rich Jews such as his family members in his book? In light of all the problems, what are the disadvantages with representing only the rich Jewish members of society? How would the meaning of the book changed if he had represented the lives of some of the poorer members of Jewish society?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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