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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. While party officials publicly extol the virtues of proletariat work, what is going on in secret among government officials?

2. This is the only Jewish person Kovály knew before the war who returns to Prague?

3. What happens in Prague on May 5th, 1945?

4. What is the reality of the Russian government?

5. For how many months is Kovály hidden by the resistance?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is said to have been the main topic of discussion for out of work Czechs after the war?

2. How does Machova intervene when the Communists sent a team in to catalogue Kovály's possessions for later seizure?

3. What is Kovály's last meeting with Margolius like?

4. What does Kovály say many industrialists are unaware of during the war?

5. What is contained in the note that Ruda sends Kovály after she settles in his apartment?

6. What does Kovály do during her five months being hidden by the resistance?

7. What treatment does Kovály receive following Margolius' arrest?

8. What happens to the people who return to Prague from concentration camps after the war?

9. What happens when Czec soldiers will not let Kovaly leave becuase she does not have the correct paperwork?

10. What do the Communists admit about the confessions made by political prisoners?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Kovály's first husband, Rudolf Margolius. How do they meet? What are Margolius' defining character traits? What is his job? What are his political beliefs? Why is he arrested? Why is Kovály's marriage to Margolius strained? Of What is Margolius accused? How does he die?

Essay Topic 2

What is the historical relevance of this story? Why is Kovály's story important to read about? What elements of this story are relevant and why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the genre of "Under A Cruel Star." What elements can be found within its pages to suggest it is an example of this genre?

(see the answer keys)

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