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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. The title of the novel refers to what aspect of its plot?
(a) The Immortalists is the name of Varya's antique shop.
(b) Simon uses the term to refer to Klara's recklessness.
(c) The Immortalist is the name of Klara's act.
(d) Saul used to call thunder clouds The Immortalists.

2. What tradition does Gertie refuse to partake in at Saul's funeral?
(a) She refuses to slit her clothes above her heart.
(b) She refuses to kiss Saul one more time.
(c) She refuses to give the eulogy.
(d) She refuses to greet the pallbearers.

3. Whom does Gertie coddle the most out of all of her children?
(a) Varya.
(b) Daniel.
(c) Simon.
(d) Klara.

4. What job does Gertie take after dropping out of college?
(a) Receptionist at a law firm.
(b) Cook at a restaurant.
(c) Teller at a bank.
(d) Typist at a medical office.

5. When a policeman asks Simon to come to the San Francisco police station, what does he tell Simon is the purpose of his visit?
(a) He tells Simon that he needs to file for legal emancipation.
(b) He tells Simon that he is under suspicion for two recent robberies.
(c) He tells Simon that he is suspected of vehicular manslaughter.
(d) He refuses to tell Simon anything about its purpose.

Short Answer Questions

1. In contrast to her brothers' bar mitzvahs, Klara's bat mitzvah takes place not individually but in a group of how many girls?

2. Klara does not believe in the Jewish heaven because she considers it to be too what?

3. How old is Varya upon the opening of the novel's prologue?

4. For how long has Klara been performing her magic act when she runs into Raj again?

5. When the Gold children reach the fortune teller's door, Varya is surprised because she had thought that magic would be what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence does the author provide for the claim that the Gold children in 1969 "are siblings, this summer, in a way they never will be again" (4)?

2. Which of the Gold siblings is the most apprehensive about the prospect of visiting the fortune teller and why?

3. How does Robert's story about his friend Dante demonstrate the themes of violence and hate?

4. What do the Gold children bring to the fortune teller as payment for her services and why?

5. How does the author depict Simon's mixed feelings about his mother's decision to relinquish him at the police station?

6. How does the novel's setting within the prologue affect the events of the narrative?

7. Compare Varya's ideas about fortune telling with Ruby Singh's.

8. How do the Purp employees and owners react to the news of Harvey Milk's assassination and how do they take action?

9. What aspects of Robert's character are depicted as those that make him "stand out" (59) to Simon?

10. How is an allusion to the story of Icarus used within the author's depiction of Simon's progression toward the date of his foretold death?

(see the answer keys)

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