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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. Which army reaches Prague in May 1945?

2. What happens to Kovály's camp as the allied forces advance upon it?

3. After finding a place to stay, what immediately happens to Kovály?

4. How does Kovály get herself an apartment after the end of the war?

5. After returning to Prague, Kovály receives a note from Ruda that contains what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What response does Kovály get when she asks her friends in Prague for help?

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

3. What happens when Nikita Khruschchev came to power in the Soviet Union?

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

5. What happens as Kovály and her friends make their escape from the barn where the camp inmates are staying?

6. What does Kovály realize by attending Communist Party meetings?

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

8. How does Kovály describe Margolius' work ethic?

9. How does Kovály keep up to date with Margolius' trial when she is in the hospital?

10. What is the Czechoslovakian economy like around 1950-51?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the setting of the memoir "Under A Cruel Star." How does Kovály portray her native country and what are her feelings about it? What problems is Czechoslovakia faced with throughout the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of hope and hopelessness in "Under A Cruel Star." When does Kovály feel hopelessness? How does she cope with this feeling? What causes her to feel this way? How does she overcome this feeling? What brings her hope? How is she able to remain hopeful despite the awful situations she faces?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the writer's purpose for writing "Under A Cruel Star." What does she wish to convey to the reader?

(see the answer keys)

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