View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose example does the farmer's wife who took him in encourage Ernie to follow?

2. What does Ernie dream as he is being repaired in the Jewish hospital?

3. Who takes Ernie's attention from Golda as they travel in the freight car?

4. Where did Ernie tell the children they would find happiness?

5. What did the signs directing the prisoners to the baths say?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mordecai say it would be useless to leave Germany?

2. Why does Ernie compare himself to a cat?

3. What details alert Ernie to the fact that the passengers will never leave this place?

4. Why do the children scream when the boxcar stops?

5. Why does Ernie decide he does not want to join the movements that are fighting back against the Nazis?

6. What do the old men of The Association of Zemyock say it is useless to do with any Levy?

7. What causes the Levy family the first tinge of fear that life in France will be the equivalent of their lives in Germany?

8. What part does the music of the band play in the successful extermination of the Jews?

9. Why do the SS men torture Ernie for his request to enter the camp at Drancy?

10. What does Ernie do to turn himself into a dog?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author often uses a sardonic tone describing, for instance, the "kind" treatment of the detainees by the German guards. In your essay, find examples of this tone and explain why you think the author used it. What effect did it have on you as a reader?

Essay Topic 2

There are moments in this story when Ernie is happy. In your essay, identify and explain the moments that cause him to briefly experience happiness. Do they make his life better or worse? Why do you think so?

Essay Topic 3

All stories are either plot-driven, relying upon the action of the story to maintain interest, or character-driven, where the most important story element is the changes that take place in the lives of the characters. In your essay, tell whether you think The Last of the Just is plot-driven or character-driven. Substantiate your position with examples and illustrations from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample