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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 was Rys told about the Guests who stayed at the zoo?

2. Which of the following was one of Lutz Heck's hobbies?

3. What was Lutz Heck's profession before the war?

4. What animal frequently followed Jan around the zoo on his daily bicycle tours?

5. Where did Ewa Brzuska (Granny) hide Jews who were on their way to other locations?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Resistance use cryptonyms?

2. Why were Antonina’s parents killed when she was nine?

3. Why did Lutz Heck want to re-create the aurochs?

4. Why was Antonina glad Rys was not with her when she travelled back to the country home after visiting Jan in Warsaw?

5. Why were the Warsaw Zoo’s polar bears shot by Polish soldiers?

6. Why were Jan and Antonina so frightened when they witnessed a trolley being bombed?

7. Why did Jan suggest that the zoo be used to raise pigs?

8. How did Antonina describe her friend Magdalena?

9. Why did Antonina compare herself to a lioness when she was staying with her sister-in-law?

10. How does the author describe the sounds of the zoo in the morning before the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that explains how Ackerman develops the theme of family and what she suggests makes a group of individuals into a family.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the significance of the title of the book. Why did the author choose to write about Antonina rather than Jan? How does making Jan the protagonist of the book support Ackerman’s themes?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the importance of codenames to the Underground. Why do they use them? What do the names reveal about the people they are chosen for? Provide examples of codenames and explain their meanings.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 689 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample