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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. Where is Hanna from?

2. What does Michael learn from the citizens' registration office?

3. What, at first, does Michael decide to be Hanna's motive?

4. What does Michael steal for Hanna while at the department store with his sister?

5. What does the narrator say about the night after he took the bath in Frau Schmitz's apartment?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what happened the night the church was bombed, as explained in Chapter 8,

2. What does Michael do, in Chapter 17, when he realizes Hanna has disappeared?

3. Describe the bicycle trip that Michael and Hanna take during Michael's Easter vacation.

4. Describe the memory the narrator discusses in Chapter 7, when he is four years old. Why is it significant?

5. Describe Michael's classroom and classmates as they are presented in Chapter 13.

6. Why is the evidence actually favorable to the defendants, as explained in Chapter 7?

7. How does Michael "betray" Hanna, as he explains in Chapter 15?

8. Describe the lines of reasoning the defendants (including Hanna) give for not unlocking the church doors, as explained in Chapter 9.

9. Why is the narrator unable to take his eyes off of Frau Schmitz?

10. Describe the only time Michael sees Hanna by chance, in Chapter 16.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses an interesting technique in the beginning of the novel; he doesn't introduce the readers to Michael until Michael and Hanna formally introduce themselves. Why is this? Why might this technique be beneficial to the story? Why not? Do you think this was a conscious decision by the author? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

When Michael begins to read aloud to Hanna, it starts out as an intimate activity. Give examples as to how this activity strengthens their relationship. Compare and contrast how Michael feels about reading aloud to Hanna in the early stages of their relationship to the later stages. What has changed?

Essay Topic 3

During the trials it is discovered that Hanna had "favorite" prisoners, young women who were too weak to work, whom she had read to her much like Michael. What can the reader draw from this discovery? How does Michael feel about this? How could this revelation change the way in which the reader sees Hanna?

(see the answer keys)

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