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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 does Tod Friendly do when he shaves?

2. Where would Odilo Unverdorben stay in Italy?

3. What does the narrator think men would give Odilo Unverdorben when he stays at their farms?

4. Where does the narrator believe the weather is always good?

5. From whom does Tod Friendly get a letter every year?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe some cases in which characters are wistful about the past.

2. Does Tod Friendly/John Young seem to be a good person?

3. What is the narrator's relationship with Tod Friendly?

4. How does the narrator feel about the change from America to Europe?

5. Describe how the narrator experiences driving.

6. Describe Reverend Nicholas Kreditor's appearance.

7. What is the key to substance for the narrator?

8. How does John Young's relationship with Irene progress?

9. Is there any place where the narrator's understanding is more accurate than Tod Friendly's?

10. How does John Young/Hamilton de Souza feel about his body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Holocaust is almost impossible to represent in literature or film. Does this book succeed in giving you a sense of the horror and wrongness of what took place during the war? Where is the book most believable and effective? Where does it stir the reader's sympathies and feelings? Where does it leave the reader detached and unfeeling, apart from the action? Does the book deliberately try to overcome the reader's aversion to difficult material? Is the backwardness of the narration an effective method for getting the reader to read about something hard to bear? What other techniques does the author use for conveying difficult or painful information? Cite specific examples from the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

The first chapter is titled, 'What comes around goes around." What does this title mean?

1. Is Odilo brought to justice? Is he cleansed of his sins, or redeemed for his experiences? Does he suffer what he inflicted on others?

2. Is this title ironic, or is it intended literally. Cite specific examples from the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 3

By the time he gets to America as John Young and then Tod Friendly, Odilo Unverdorben is on a mission to redeem himself.

1. Whose forgiveness does he seek? Does he attain it from them? Why or why not?

2. Who would Odilo have had to go to, to get forgiveness? Is there anyone with authority who could absolve him of his actions?

3. Is it enough that Odilo tries to redeem himself? Do his actions balance each other? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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