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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. Besides the United States, Jones says his Minuteman publication has a small circulation in what country?

2. How does the narrator get money to live on while hiding in New York?

3. What is one thing that Heinz was willing to do for his motorcycle that he was not willing to do for his wife?

4. What did the narrator's father insist was not for children, but the narrator looked at anyway?

5. Which characteristic does NOT describe Howard W. Campbell, Jr.'s father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where and in what kind of place does the narrator live while he is in hiding?

2. Why had Father Keeley been "unfrocked"?

3. In chapter one, where is the narrator? Why is he there and what is he doing?

4. What happened to members of the Sonderkommando when their job was done? How were they replaced?

5. What is Abraham Epstein's mother hoping to prove when she speaks to the narrator in German?

6. Describe Resi's reaction to the news that her dog must be killed.

7. Describe the narrator's lifestyle while he is in hiding. How does he live and from where does he get his income?

8. How does the narrator describe The White Christian Minuteman and what is his reaction to it arriving in his mailbox?

9. What is Goebbels' response to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?

10. Of what does the Haifa Institute consider Heinz Schildknecht to be an expert and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel deals with many sobering topics such as war, genocide, racism, and suicide. Discuss your opinions of the way the novel handles these sensitive topics. For example, does the novel include too many lurid details or not enough? Should the novel have included more humor to lighten the dark tone or would that have distracted from the seriousness of the subject?

Essay Topic 2

Some of the younger characters in the novel, such as Dr. Epstein and the narrator's Israeli-born guard, think discussing what happened in the death camps pointless or irrelevant. Discuss whether these attitudes are healthy examples of people trying to get on with their lives and not be burdened by the past or a troubling example of living in denial.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the concept of patriotism as presented in the novel compared to your own idea of patriotism. Give your definition of patriotism and discuss what you think patriotism means to some of the characters in the novel.

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