Salt to the Sea

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What is the most likely reason Joana and the other characters in the novel are reluctant to get to know one another?

A) They realize people do not live for long in war-torn Prussia.

B) They are wary of people who might put them in danger.

C) They lack the emotional capacity to care for others.

D) They suspect one of the people in their group may be a Nazi.

2. How does Sepetys demonstrate the psychological effects of fascist behavior on young military personnel?

A) By showing the reader Emilia’s moral decline

B) Through Florian’s distrustful behavior

C) In Alfred’s grandiose behavior

D) Through Ingrid’s intuitive nature.

3. What first bonds Joana’s group to Florian and Emilia?

A) Meeting in the barn for the first time

B) Their shared traumatic experience in the mansion

C) The journey to the ship

D) The chance encounter at the aristocrat’s residence

4. What best describes Florian’s attitude toward companionship at the novel’s beginning?

A) He wants to be alone.

B) He feels the need to travel in a group.

C) He wants to escape Emilia.

D) He is conflicted about his responsibility toward others.

5. What does Ingrid’s death foreshadow in the novel?

A) The death of the refugees on the lagoon

B) The trauma of the aristocratic family

C) The unity of Joana’s group

D) The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff

6. What is the mood when Joana’s group first encounters Alfred?

A) Serious

B) Disdainful

C) Humorous

D) Melancholic

7. What purpose does Alfred’s social and emotional isolation serve in the novel?

A) He is harassed and mistreated by the other soldiers.

B) It creates an opportunity to foreshadow the Gustloff’s demise.

C) It provides him the time to write letters to Hannelore.

D) It helps him enhance his collection of butterflies.

8. What does the increased intimacy of Joana’s group allow the characters to do?

A) Create ties with other people

B) To trust outsiders

C) Process and share past traumas

D) Grieve Ingrid

9. What role does identity play in the novel?

A) It is something the master race fears because they are hunted.

B) The shared identity of nationality binds all the characters together.

C) It is a source of pride for some and something to hide for others.

D) Gender roles determine the jobs the characters perform.

10. Which of the following plot scenarios best illustrates the novel’s theme of Reinventing the Familial Unit?

A) Emilia rescues Alfred even though his ideology is different.

B) Ingrid dies for her friends so they can cross the lagoon.

C) Joana’s group bonds and heals after sharing trauma.

D) Florian and Joana adopt the children they rescue.

11. What is the most likely reason Alfred attacks Emilia, claiming she stole his medal?

A) He realizes Emilia is Jewish.

B) He cannot cope with the reality of his delusions.

C) He recognizes the hopelessness of being stranded at sea.

D) He is jealous of Emilia’s peace and fortitude.

12. What is the symbolic meaning of shoes in the novel?

A) Shoes are symbolic of the journey to the ship.

B) Shoes illustrate the passage of time.

C) Shoes serve as a symbol for life’s journey.

D) Shoes represent the hidden identity of their wearer.

13. What does Alfred represent in the novel?

A) The ridiculous and delusional ideas of the Nazis

B) The brutality of those who believe in a master race

C) The views of the outside world on Hitler

D) The madness that ravaged Europe

14. How does Florian’s character grow throughout the novel?

A) He acquires more courage and hides less often.

B) He becomes more protective and less self-absorbed.

C) He is more adept at manipulation.

D) He has an increasing desire for family.

15. What does the Wilhelm Gustloff symbolize in the novel?

A) Salvation

B) Death

C) Restoration

D) Unity

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the significance of the wreath Emilia sends down the river? What does Emilia believe it symbolizes?

2. Many of the characters lie about various things in the novel. Why do they lie, and how is truth used to set the characters free?