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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 think that Tod Friendly finds love letters?

2. With whom does Hamilton de Souza meet at the Vatican?

3. Where does Tod Friendly meet many of his girlfriends?

4. What term does the narrator coin to describe the act of eating?

5. How do the other doctors feel about John Young?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Tod feel about his physical body in the first chapter?

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

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

5. Describe John Young's departure from Europe.

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

7. What condition is Europe in when Odilo Unverdorben leaves?

8. What habits does Tod Friendly pick up over the course of the first chapter?

9. Describe the narrator's mindset at the beginning of the novel.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator feels an almost religious awe at Uncle Pepi's power to create people.

1. Who else seems to have this power, and how do they use it? What are the effects of this power?

2. Are there any instances where characters resist this sense of awe with reason or pragmatism or some other form of understanding that protects them?

3. Is respect for that power a historical fact that was only exhibited in the Holocaust and select other historical instances? Or is respect for that power a stage of development, which has to be followed by regret and acts of contrition? Cite specific examples from the text in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

The motto at Schless-Hertheim is "There is such a thing as life that is not worthy of life." Is this motto reinforced by the events that take place after the war? Is it undermined?

1. Cite specific instances from the text where characters support or contradict this motto.

2. Are characters conflicted within themselves about this idea? How do they resolve this internal conflict?

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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