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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 Helen using to try to keep warm in Chapter 7?

2. When did the HaLevy family arrive in London?

3. At the end of Chapter 15, how many documents does the librarian allow Aaron to have at once?

4. What is the date in Chapter 1?

5. What was Ester's father's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Rabbi Mendes write Rabbi ben Israel in Chapter 2?

2. What advice did Mendes offer in Chapter 4?

3. In Chapter 6, what did Ester see when she was onboard a ship?

4. In Chapter 9, why does Helen simply walk away from the assessor from Sotheby's?

5. In Chapter 11, how does Aaron act in the rare manuscripts room?

6. At the end of Chapter 13, why does Helen say that she left Dror?

7. In Chapter 12, why did the rabbi tell Rivka that Ester read in the night?

8. What rules did the Mahamad set forth in a pamphlet in Chapter 14?

9. According to Mary in Chapter 16, under what circumstances might Ester marry?

10. In Chapter 13, why does Aaron think it would have been better for the London Jewish community to have invited Mendes to be their rabbi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Both Helen and Ester have regrets about how they have lived their lives. What regrets do the women have? How do those regrets affect their lives and how they live?

Essay Topic 2

Aaron accuses Helen of attributing Ester with the traits of feminism. Why does Helen attribute the traits of feminism to Ester? Was Ester a feminist?

Essay Topic 3

The rabbi and other characters make confessions in the novel. What is a confession? Who makes confessions in the novel? How do those confessions relieve agony that characters felt?

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