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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. Reuven’s father feels that it is important to have what geographic region as a Jewish homeland?

2. Danny Saunders’ psychology professor explains to him that Freudian psychology cannot be applied to what in Chapter 13?

3. In Chapter 14, Reuven’s Talmud teacher poses an unexpected question about the reconciliation and Reuven dismisses it as what?

4. When was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt born?

5. When did World War II begin?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Reb Saunders treat Reuven in Chapter 16? How does Reuven feel about this?

2. What is the central theme of Chapter 18? How does this theme relate to silence?

3. What does Reuven remark about the relationship between Reb Saunders and Danny in Chapter 12?

4. What is the significance of Danny’s discussion of silence in Chapter 17?

5. What is the setting and time period of Chapter 15? How does Danny reemerge in Reuven’s life?

6. What does Reuven’s father realize about Reb Saunders’ silence with Danny in Chapter 17?

7. How do Reuven and Danny spend their first month of summer in Chapter 10?

8. What does Reb Saunders conclude about compassion in Chapter 18?

9. What does Reuven observe about Reb Saunders’ behavior in Chapter 12?

10. How is the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt described in Chapter 11?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define literary motif and discuss the motif of silence illustrated in the novel. What different silences are described by the narrator? What do they symbolize to him? What does silence mean to Danny and Reb Saunders?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Reuven’s dismissal of Danny’s apology in Chapter 2. What does Reuven’s father tell him about this act? How does he use the Torah in his advice to Reuven? How does Reuven’s action relate to the themes of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the impact of D-Day on the characters in the novel in Chapter 3. How does Reuven respond to this historical event? What does Reuven’s father believe that D-Day indicates for the future of the Jewish People? What does Danny’s father think?

(see the answer keys)

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