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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. How does Michael feel at the end of Part 2, Chapter 16?

2. According to the prison warden, once Hanna learned to read, what did she request?

3. How much time passes before Michael receives a note from Hanna?

4. Why does Michael tell Hanna he is proud of her?

5. What does Michael decide to do after Hanna's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Michael dream about on the train from Boston to New York, on the way to visit the daughter from the trial?

2. What does Michael do to prepare for Hanna's release in Chapter 9?

3. What does Michael do during the summer after the trial, as described in Part 3, Chapter 1?

4. What does Michael decide to do for work, and why?

5. What does Michael say about his relationships after Gertrud?

6. Describe the situation that happens at the restaurant in Chapter 15.

7. In the beginning of Chapter 12, right after Hanna's death, what does Michael decide to do? Why?

8. What does the prison warden tell Michael about Hanna and her time in prison?

9. What does Michael do upon returning from New York at the end of Chapter 12?

10. What happens when Michael goes to talk to the judge in Chapter 16?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 2, Chapter 14, Michael has an exchange with a man who gives him a ride to the concentration camp. How does their conversation illustrate the disconnect between Michael's generation and that of his elders? How are their opinions about the war and justice similar, and how do they differ?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the trial, Michael talks about the feelings of numbness that overcome him. In Part 2, Chapter 4, Michael uses an analogy to convey his numbed feeling; a "hand pinching an arm numbed by an injection". Why might the author use this analogy? Why does Michael liken his feelings to those of another person, under anesthesia? How does this allow Michael to be active, but also removed from the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Michael's family makes brief appearances in the novel. At the end of Part 1, Chapter 7, Michael notes that he feels as though he is saying his "final goodbyes" to them, although no one is going anywhere. Why might Michael have said that? What does his family symbolize? What, perhaps, were the author's intentions of having a young, teenaged Michael so emotionally estranged from his family?

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