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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. What does the the narrator's friend say artists in Prague will moan about?

2. What does emet mean in Hebrew?

3. What does Utz's doctor prescribe him?

4. What does Utz own a spectacular collection of?

5. Where was the bear shot?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Utz develop his theory about porcelain collecting?

2. How did the communist state divert people's attentions from the Christian rituals of Utz's funeral?

3. What does Dr. Orlik do every time he sees a fly in the restaurant?

4. Describe the stuffed bear in the Hotel Bristol.

5. How does Utz say he was able to keep his porcelain collection?

6. How did Rabbi Loew use Yossel?

7. How did Utz lose his temper with the secret police?

8. What does the narrator observe about Utz's porcelain?

9. Why does the narrator's friend send him to meet Utz?

10. What does Utz's funeral suggest about him as a person?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In 1992, George Sluizer directed a film version of Utz. How did the filmmakers adapt the themes to fit in with the new environment? How did these changes affect the meaning of the story?

Essay Topic 2

The author wrote Utz in the first person. Why do you think the author chose to write the story in the third person? How do you think the meaning of the story would change if the author wrote it in the first person?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the novel's chronological setting.

1. What were the main concerns during the 1980s? How does the author express these concerns?

2. How would the author change the novel if it was set in today's society?

(see the answer keys)

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