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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. Why was Mother upset in the beginning of chapter 12?

2. What did Mother do to take care of her family?

3. What was Iboya's job?

4. What changed for Piri and Iboya when the Germans took over Hungary?

5. What does the family learn at the end of Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where were the Jews concentrated by the Germans?

2. Why was Mother upset with Piri over Dr. Feher's death?

3. What happened to Dr. Feher?

4. How did Piri's schooling change as a result of the Germans' policies?

5. What message did Mother get from Lajos' parents?

6. Describe the trip mother took on Manci's behalf.

7. How did the family handle Lujza's death?

8. Describe Piri's development into womanhood.

9. How did Iboya's work affect the family?

10. What upset Piri's mother in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Siegal distinguish the memoir genre from the novel? How is 'Upon the Head of a Goat' literary in spite of itself? What novelistic features does 'Upon the Head of a Goat' have (allusions, foreshadowing, symbols, plotting) and how does Siegal make attempts to keep the writing real and urgent and true to life?

Essay Topic 2

For writers like Kafka, the absurdity and insanity of the concentration camp became a metaphor for the modern world as a whole. He barely survived in it. How does Siegal portray the insanity of the times? What philosophy does she develop that lets her keep going? How does Siegal define the different and the different temperaments that took the events in stride or broke beneath them?

Essay Topic 3

Based on the experiences described in 'Upon the Head of a Goat', would you send your children away from your home at the first scent of trouble, or would you keep them with you, in hoped that conditions would improve? When would you try to find them safer places? How would you endure the separation?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 753 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample