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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 the narrator think the very thin men are doing at the camps when they tip their heads back towards the sky strangely?

2. What does the narrator think is happening to Odilo Unverdorben as time goes on?

3. What does the narrator think the showers are for at Auschwitz?

4. How does Odilo Unverdorben's wife relax while she is pregnant?

5. About whom does Odilo Unverdorben dream in the time before the war?

Short Essay Questions

1. Name four methods Odilo Unverdorben sees the Germans use to "process" the Jews?

2. Describe the narrator's relationship with Odilo Unverdorben's father.

3. Describe the similarities and differences between the narrator and Uncle Pepi.

4. As Odilo Unverdorben ages, how is the narrator affected by his time at Auschwitz?

5. How does the narrator describe the Jews' experiences at Auschwitz?

6. Describe the narrator's relationship with Odilo Unverdorben in the years before/after Odilo began to work in the camps.

7. The narrator and Uncle Pepi both see the work at Auschwitz as 100% successful. How does their agreement, from such different viewpoints, affect the reader?

8. How does the narrator's impression of the killings at Schless-Hartheim increase the reader's sense of sympathy for the people the Nazis killed there?

9. How does Odilo Unverdorben's relationship with Herta change when he arrives at Schless-Hartheim?

10. The narrator is usually just stuck with his backward perspective. Describe a case where he creates his own explanations and has to explain things to himself.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator's backwardness is a unique perspective for a narration. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this conceit? What can you see in reverse that you might not see going forward? Describe the mechanisms and the effect of the irony or the humor this type of narrative creates.

Essay Topic 2

In spite of his emigration and his success in America, Odilo Unverdorben is still tormented by guilt. Cite three cases in which Odilo does something in order to alleviate his guilt.

1. How does guilt operate on him? How can you describe the nature of guilt? How does it work? When does his guilt begin?

2. Is Odilo successful at mitigating his guilt? Does his guilt end? If so, when?

3. Does Odilo ever inflict on himself the same acts of cruelty that he inflicted on other people?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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