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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. Whom did Mother and Piri hear were likely in the procession somewhere?

2. How does Piri say Iboya would return from work?

3. How did Mother change after her trip outside the city?

4. What did Mother have to wait for?

5. What did Iboya confess about Mr. Schwartz?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Zionist meetings Piri attended.

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

3. Describe the conditions at the ghetto.

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

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

6. What were the family's options for escaping after Lujza's death?

7. How did the political scene change in Hungary?

8. Why did Piri and Iboya end up running the household themselves?

9. How did the incident with Lilli change Piri's mother?

10. Describe Mother's preparation for the mission regarding Manci.

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

Piri's mother is the hero of the book, as she gives without thinking of herself, and her only selfishness is the early decision to keep the family together. How does Piri reflect the influence of her mother, her grandmother, and Babi? Who else exerted a strong influence on Piri so that her writing and her description of herself reflect it?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 700 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample