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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. What is one major point of Gordon's "theology"?

2. With whom is Reuven dissatisfied in the flashback?

3. Why is Professor Gordon exhausted at the opening to Chapter 4?

4. What is one image Michael sees in the clouds?

5. About what does Professor Gordon ask Reuben?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Reuven encounter at the library and what is the person doing?

2. What has Reuven's father completed during the Fall and early Winter?

3. Describe Rav Kalman.

4. Describe the neighborhood in which the narrator lives at the opening of the The Promise.

5. How does the narrator's neighborhood change in the early 1950s?

6. Where does Professor Gordon invite Reuven and what does Reuven do?

7. What does Michael tell Reuven about Michael's nosebleeds?

8. When does Michael get a nosebleed at the fair, and what do Reuven and Rachel do?

9. How does Danny become involved with the Gordon family?

10. What does Michael say about the universe when he is back home after the fair?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter 3, the narrator relates that Rav Kalman is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. Discuss the following:

1. Research and write a brief informative essay on the Nazi concentration camps of WWII. Why were they established? Who was sent to them? How many died there? How many survived? Offer your own thoughts about the concentration camps.

2. What sort of emotional and psychological damage do you think Rav Kalman could be suffering from as a result of having lived through the experience of a concentration camp?

3. Why do you think Rav Kalman came out of the camp with a still-firm faith in his God?

4. Do you think the concentration camp experience caused very many survivors to abandon their faith in God?

Essay Topic 2

Reuven asks his father about Kotzker, who it turns out is an eccentric rabbi who has shut himself up in a room for twenty years and has disagreements with many Hasidic sects.

Discuss the following:

1. Research the historical Kotzker Rebbe and write an informative essay on him and how the historical facts match up with what is said in The Promise.

2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a scholar isolating himself for twenty years.

3. Can you ever think of a reason you would isolate yourself for twenty years?

4. Relate the anecdote about Kotzker Rebbe to the theme of silence in the Promise. What other situations are related to the theme of silence? Who tries to silence other? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze how the setting informs the plot in The Promise.

2. Trace and analyze one major theme of The Promise. How is the theme represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

3. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of The Promiise. How are the themes represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

(see the answer keys)

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