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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. With what does Friedrich greet a man outside the Meyer department store?

2. What violates Nazi ideology?

3. What does the narrator warn Friedrich not to reveal?

4. Where does Mrs. Schneider go to sob loudly?

5. What does Friedrich's father ask him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator say when Herr Schneider asks him about the Jungvolk and how does Herr Schneider respond to the narrator's reply?

2. What is the first couple of indications in this book that this story will have something to do with the persecution of the Jewish people?

3. Summarize what the teacher says about Jewish history.

4. What does this situation with Frau Penk demonstrate?

5. Who is Dr. Jakob Askenase and what is significant about the boys' visit there in this chapter?

6. What indications are there that Friedrich and his mother enjoy a good relationship?

7. Describe how the window is broken. Do you think the narrator shows courage in taking responsibility for breaking the window or is lying never acceptable?

8. Explain the situation with Frau Penk and why she gives up her position with Mrs. Schneider.

9. What does the narrator's father do that is equally as courageous as what his son does in the last chapter?

10. Describe the proceedings in the court and their implications.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The chapter "Reasons" is very important in understanding much of what happens later in the book and also in understanding why so many Jewish people did not flee Nazi Germany when they had the chance. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What are the reasons Herr Schnider gives for not leaving Germany? Are they valid?

2. Do you think, given the things that have already happened to the Schneiders, that Herr Schneider is being rationale in thinking that because it's the 20th century, things like genocide do not occur anymore?

3. Are modern governments (those in the 20th and 21st centuries) any less prone to wholesale genocide than any other era? Give specific examples and details to support your stance.

4. Is it fair for Herr Schneider to expect his teenage son to be as philosophical about persecution as Herr Schneider?

Essay Topic 2

1. The book Friedrich does not go into the horror of concentration camps or the wholesale murder of millions of Jews (and other unacceptable people), yet there are plenty of tragic events that point the way to the larger event that is the Holocaust. Why do you think the author chose to address the issue of the Holocaust in this way? (Keep in mind of the intended audience). Is the author's approach effective? Does it reveal enough of the tragedy of the events of Nazi Germany to convince a reader of the extent of Germany's genocide of a group of people?

2. Research pre-WWII Germany and write an essay about the reasons that Germany is vulnerable to the extent that it is willing to go down the path of mass murder. Does anything justify the German people's actions?

3. Research the aftermath of Germany's actions in pre-WWII and WWII in its concentration camps. Do you think Germany received just retribution? Why or why not? What do you think should have happened to Germany?

Essay Topic 3

The chapter titled "Jungvolk" is very significant in that if the young can be influenced and changed, significant social changes can take place in a country almost overnight. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Once Hitler has the young people "in his pocket," he is well on his way to controlling Germany. Write an essay either agreeing or disagreeing with this statement, giving specific reasons and examples.

2. Not too long ago in the United States, President Obama addressed the youth in the schools in the nation as a whole. Discuss this situation, why some people were opposed to President Obama doing so, and any similarities between the novel, Friedrich, and that situation.

3. Bob Dylan wrote and released a song around 1963 titled, "The Times They Are a-Changin'." How are the lyrics to this song applicable to what is happening in 1930s Germany?

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