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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. When Benjamin's hand bleeds, what do his fellow workers think about their cruelty?

2. What is the title of the march of the Pimpfe?

3. How does the grocer's daughter react when Ernie explains why he has come to the grocery store?

4. What do the German children hate most about Ernie?

5. Why does Ernie decide that he cannot be a Just Man as he cleans his wounds after the bullying?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ernie think when he feels no pain from the bumps and gashes he has suffered?

2. What does Ernie think as he is surrounded by the Pimpfe bullies?

3. What does Ernie's act of stepping forward to protest the treatment of Frau Tuszynski cause Mordecai to do?

4. How does Judith recognize Mordecai as a Just Man?

5. Why doesn't Ernie sing with his class when Herr Geek orders him to do so?

6. What rationale does Rabbi Yom Tov Levy offer for the mass murder and suicide he instigates?

7. How does Benjamin successfully market himself as a tailor?

8. How is Benjamin received by the Jews in Stillenstadt?

9. What things does Mordecai believe to be incomprehensible?

10. What does Ernie do to ease the emptiness in his heart after the beating?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The position of a Just Man in the world is complex, and it takes the child Ernie some time to understand what he is supposed to do on behalf of his fellow man. Using explanations given by Mordecai and others, as well as actions by the Just Men, explain in your essay what they do for humanity.

Essay Topic 2

The author puts himself into the story more than once. In your essay, find the moments in which the author shares his own feelings with the reader, and evaluate this device. Does he belong in the story? Why or why not? Is he sharing his feelings because they are similar to yours? What ultimately gives him relief from the grief he experiences as he composes this story?

Essay Topic 3

The author spends a large part of the book establishing a genealogy for Ernie that places him as the last of the Just Men. In your essay, select some of Ernie's ancestors and explain how the characteristics they demonstrated in their lifetimes are apparent in his actions.

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