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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. In contrast to her brothers' bar mitzvahs, Klara's bat mitzvah takes place not individually but in a group of how many girls?
(a) 7.
(b) 3.
(c) 10.
(d) 6.

2. What kind of job does Simon find when he and Klara arrive in San Francisco?
(a) Go-go dancer.
(b) Bouncer.
(c) Cook.
(d) Valet.

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

4. What book does Klara buy at the magic shop after gleaning more information about the fortune teller?
(a) A book of Wiccan spells.
(b) The Book of Divination.
(c) A book of card trick instructions.
(d) The Torah.

5. Whose shift does Simon cover when he "wakes up with a red dot on the white of his left eye"? (86)
(a) Daniel.
(b) Richie.
(c) Robert.
(d) Tommy.

Short Answer Questions

1. What two items does Varya keep taped to the wall next to her bed?

2. At what location do Raj and Klara scavenge for wood to build Klara's magician's cabinet?

3. With whom does Simon begin an affair after the two cruise the Castro together?

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

5. Daniel tells his siblings that the fortune teller is rumored to be able to tell a person what information?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator mean when describing Simon's impression of the Castro district as being like a "fallout shelter" (79)?

2. How is the theme of guilt depicted within Gertie's feelings about her son after his death?

3. Who is the first of the Gold siblings to hear about the fortune teller and what action does this sibling then take?

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

5. What is the author's purpose for using the allusion to The Statue of Liberty when depicting the children's grandfather Lev?

6. The narrator takes pains to explain that Klara does not share her magic with people in order to deceive them. What is her true reason?

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

8. What is Robert's reaction to the AIDS epidemic and how does it differ from Simon's?

9. What is the symbolism of the sequins that turn up everywhere inside Klara's home?

10. What differences between Robert and Simon does the author depict as those that drive Simon to cheat on Robert?

(see the answer keys)

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