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

2. What does Tod Friendly do to get a new name?

3. With whom does John Young meet before his voyage to Europe?

4. Where does the narrator think that Tod Friendly finds love letters?

5. Why is the narrator shocked when Irene comes to the house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the underground system for taking care of Nazis.

2. When is Tod Friendly/John Young happy?

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

4. Describe John Young/Hamilton de Souza/Odilo Unverdorben's feelings about fleeing to America after the war.

5. How does the narrator experience Tod's kindness to children?

6. Can the reader sympathize with the narrator's sense of horror at John Young's work?

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

8. What do Tod Friendly/John Young/Hamilton de Souza/Odilo Unverdorben's name changes tell us about his character?

9. What does the narrator think about Tod Friendly's dreams and memories?

10. What is Tod's relationship with the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the narrator's backwards point of view distort our experience of Odilo Unverdorben's life and actions? How does it help to reveal it? Citing specific examples from the text, describe the effect of the narrator's point of view.

Essay Topic 2

Men and women have different perspectives on the events of this book.

1. How do men's and women's perspectives differ? How are they similar? How would you characterize men's perspectives, and how would you characterize women's? Do individuals have both male and female characteristics?

2. Where do men's and women's perspectives and values come into conflict? Whose values or whose power wins those conflicts?

Essay Topic 3

Irene and Herta both have children whom they cannot keep. Compare and contrast the effects of this loss on Herta and Irene. How is the experience similar for the two women? How is it different? How does it affect their lives and their relationships with Odilo Unverdorben?

(see the answer keys)

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