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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. How does Odilo Unverdorben's work affect his marriage?

2. Where does the narrator think Herta's letters come from?

3. How does the narrator think about expressing his affection for Herta?

4. What does Odilo Unverdorben see at Auschwitz when he visits with his family?

5. Where does Odilo Unverdorben live with his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the narrator right about Odilo Unverdorben's personality as a young man?

2. Describe Odilo Unverdorben's work in the Waffen Secret Service.

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

4. How do Odilo Unverdorben's dreams change as he returns (according to the narrator's backward timeline) to his youth?

5. 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?

6. Describe Odilo Unverdorben's relationship with his mother.

7. How does the killing change from Schless-Hartheim to Auschwitz?

8. Describe the irony of the narrator's impression of Odilo Unverdorben's relationship with Jews.

9. How does Odilo Unverdorben's language change during his time at Auschwitz?

10. Describe the narrator's relationship with Odilo Unverdorben by the end of this chapter, at which point Odilo has just arrived at Schless-Hartheim.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator and Odilo Unverdorben are both characters in the author's narration. Does the author ever indicate his support of one or the other? Whose side does the author seem to be on? Cite specific instances from the text where the narration or the irony give you insight into the author's own point of view. How would you characterize the author's beliefs or feelings? How does the author's perspective differ from the narrator's or Odilo's?

Essay Topic 2

Uncle Pepi and Reverend Nicholas Kreditor are the two male characters who affect Odilo's life. Compare and contrast these characters.

1. How are they similar and how are they different?

2. How do they affect Odilo's life? Do they help him? How do they hurt him?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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