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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. Who is Eva?

2. Which of Kovály's friends also returns with Franta?

3. What does Kovály find out about her friends when she returns to Prague?

4. Following the end of the war, how do the Prague civil authorities handle the return of concentration camp prisoners?

5. Who greets Kovály at Ruda's home?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of the book, what does Kovály say shapes her life?

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

3. What examples of hardships in the ghetto does Kovály describe?

4. What does Margolius have to say in his court statements?

5. What happens in Prague in October of 1941?

6. Why is Kovály hesitant to get involved with the Communist Party?

7. What minor miracle does Bartos achieve for Kovály which enabled her to visit a hospital?

8. Where does Kovály find work in 1946?

9. How does Kovály describe Margolius' work ethic?

10. Describe what occurrs in Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1968.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of escape in "Under A Cruel Star." Describe Kovály's escape from the Nazis. How does she do this and is she successful? How does she later escape from occupied Czechoslovakia and where does she go? How does she feel about leaving her homeland?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the Iron Curtain. What is the Iron Curtain? What does the Iron Curtain have to do with Czechoslovakia? Does it affect Kovály directly? If so, how?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. When does it occur and how does it affect Kovály? Why does the Soviet Bloc feel compelled to occupy Czechoslovakia?

(see the answer keys)

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