The Boy On The Wooden Box

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

Multiple Choice

1. What do the actions of the children and teachers toward Jewish children in Poland represent in the memoir?

A) How little value they place on human lives

B) The rapidly changing attitudes of German people

C) The deteriorating education system in Poland

D) How quickly small actions can grow into bigger problems

2. What moment in Leon’s life causes him to realize the dangers he will face?

A) The Germans invade Poland.

B) Jewish children are forbidden to attend school.

C) Moshe resists the Germans and is beaten.

D) Jewish people are forced to wear armbands.

3. What do the traumatic experiences mean for Leon’s character growth?

A) He learns to fight back.

B) He must grow up quickly.

C) He teaches himself to be passive.

D) His defiance increases.

4. Based on the way Leon’s friends treat him following the antisemitism in Poland, what can the reader infer about the non-Jewish population?

A) They are cold and indifferent.

B) Their voices are silenced.

C) They don’t know how to help.

D) They do not care about the Nazis.

5. Why did many Jews underestimate the measures Germans would take against the Jewish population?

A) They believed in the German’s good nature to do what is right.

B) They assumed Germany would treat them as they had during World War I.

C) They underestimated the military force of the German army.

D) They did not believe the rumors that Germany had sent many to concentration camps.

6. What were the psychological effects of Germany’s oppression of the Jews?

A) The Jews lost their identity.

B) Jewish occupants lost their dignity.

C) The Jews lost their individuality.

D) Jewish people believed in German propaganda.

7. What do Mr. Luftig’s pipes symbolize to Leon?

A) Civilized life

B) German oppression

C) Death camps

D) Joy in dark times

8. What does Leon, in part, credit for his family’s survival in occupied Poland?

A) Bold defiance

B) Hard work in the camp

C) Good luck

D) Small acts of courage

9. Which of the following is an example of the memoir’s theme of Passive Resistance in the Face of Oppression?

A) The uprising in the ghettos of Warsaw and Treblinka

B) The way Jewish people continue to marry and go to shows

C) The intervention of Allied forces during World War II

D) The production of factory workers in forced-labor camps

10. What is the significance of Leon’s realization that, outside the camp, Kraków continues as normal?

A) He is surprised it is not war-torn by German forces.

B) It contradicts reports that the population was evacuated to Plaszów.

C) It is in stark contrast to Leon’s own experience in Kraków.

D) He recognizes the indifference felt by Gentiles toward Jewish oppression.

11. How does the guard’s acquiescence to his request to work in Emalia affect Leon?

A) It causes him to believe that some of the Nazis may have some compassion.

B) He realizes that he can manipulate the Nazis by playing into their humanity.

C) He understands that Nazis are motivated by power grabs.

D) It reinforces his belief that Nazis are not sympathetic toward Jews.

12. Why is Schindler a complicated character in the memoir?

A) He lives a lavish lifestyle but extends some kindness to the less fortunate.

B) He is a Nazi but takes good care of the Jews in his factory.

C) He is angry and brutal on the surface but is a caring person.

D) His reputation as a womanizer belies his respect for women.

13. How does Leon compare his experiences in Germany with those in the United States?

A) He realizes they are nothing alike.

B) He believes that the US has more opportunities for Jewish citizens.

C) He sees racial segregation and likens it to Jewish segregation.

D) He is surprised by the harsh treatment of Jews in refugee camps.

14. What is the importance of the ring the Jewish factory workers give to Schindler?

A) It expresses the Jews’ thankfulness for giving them a job.

B) It extends the same kindness Schindler showed them.

C) It represents their gratitude to him for saving them.

D) It serves as a reminder for Schindler of his friends.

15. What is unique about Schindler’s relationship with the Jews?

A) He defends them.

B) He provides them with work.

C) He gives them gifts.

D) He grants them housing.

Long Answer

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

1. What is the significance of Schindler’s wish to be buried in Jerusalem?

2. Just as Leon praises those who do small acts of courage, he warns against small acts of hatred. What small acts of hatred occur in the memoir, and how do they contribute to what happened during the Holocaust?