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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. What does the farmer's son tell Lore?

2. How is Papi best described?

3. What does a woman offer Lore when Lore sits down very tired?

4. What is constantly on Helmut's mind that reminds him that he is a disappointment?

5. How does Seiffert first introduce Helmut's family as impoverished?

Short Essay Questions

1. Helmut finally gets to join the army. What does this imply about the state of Germany at this point in the war?

2. The Third Reich is at its height when Helmut is a teenager. How does this age and Helmut's life affect his acceptance and loyalty to the Third Reich?

3. Lore asks the woman for more food for her siblings but the woman initially responds with a look of possible fear. Why might the woman be afraid?

4. Helmut does not ever speak of Germany's purge of its own population. Does Helmut, as a common civilian, know about the prison camps in other parts of Germany? Does it make a difference in his beliefs?

5. When Lore offers to buy food from the woman who gives her bread and milk, she asks if Lore has anything other than money. Why does the woman not prefer money?

6. Helmut is cast to the side with the weak during physical education. Helmut tries to "prove himself" for whom and why?

7. Mutti and Papi love their son, but there is a stubborn denial that there is anything wrong with Helmut. What does it finally take them to accept the truth and how do they handle it?

8. Mutti tries to burn the badges but they do not burn all the way. Lore tries to throw them deep into the river, but buries them in the bushes when this does not work. What do the badges and the efforts to rid them symbolize?

9. During one of Helmut's walks around the city, he encounters the SS collecting and trucking the gypsies away. What is Helmut's reaction to this event?

10. When the farmer's son taunts Lore and pushes her down, the twins throw rocks at him. What does this show about the children?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many characters in the novel are shown doing both good and bad deeds. Write about what makes a person good or bad. What goes into the title of good or bad?

Essay Topic 2

Lore and her siblings are children during WWII but are affected by its aftermath. Discuss where the children are coming from as Nazi children. What tribulations do they go through as Nazi children? How responsible are they for their affiliation? How are they punished even if they do not live in camps?

Essay Topic 3

In Micha's story, Micha gets angry that the school only teaches about the occupation from the victim's perspective. This novel offers the German's perspective. Write a short paper on how this novel changed your ideas about WWII. Has it changed? How has it changed? Did you ever consider the human side of the German soldiers before? If so, does this novel give you a better idea?

(see the answer keys)

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