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. What does Ernie smell as he gets out of the boxcar?

2. Why did Ernie decide not to join the protest movements?

3. What work does Ernie find in Paris?

4. How does Mordecai view Jewish suffering?

5. How did the democracies of the world respond to German anti-semitism?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Ernie's dream, what mistake does Judith make as she talks about the wedding?

2. What does the author find "admirable" about German education during the years before the Final Solution of Jewish extermination?

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

4. Why does Madame Trochu, the farmer's wife, distrust Ernie?

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

6. What changes does Madame Trochu make when she understands that Ernie is a Jew?

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

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

9. Why are the old men of The Association of Zemyock surprised that Ernie has returned to them?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the character and personality of Ernie. What motivates him as a child? As an adult? What does he want to do? Does he believe himself to be a Just Man? The author talks of the first death of Ernie. Are there more than one? More than two? Use specific examples from the story.

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

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 798 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample