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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 did the secret police do in Utz'a flat for two weeks?

2. What happen when someone removes the strip of metal from Yossel?

3. What does Utz believe should be looted every fifty years?

4. Which political group has laid a wreath on Utz's coffin?

5. What does Pstruh mean in English?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Rabbi Loew use Yossel?

2. Describe Utz's apartment.

3. Who was Rabbi Loew?

4. How did Utz's grandmother ignite Utz's interest in Porcelain collecting?

5. How does the narrator describe Utz?

6. How could a rabbi destroy a golem?

7. How does Rabbi Loew stop Yossel from running amok?

8. Why has the narrator come to Prague?

9. How does Utz help people during the war?

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

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion.

Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how Communism affected one of the following areas in Utz's life.

1. Work.

2. Social life.

3. Intimate relationships.

(see the answer keys)

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