The Endless Steppe

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

Multiple Choice

1. Why did Esther stop going to nursery school?

A) Mama refused to buy her silk gloves.

B) The Russian soldiers forced her family onto cattle trains.

C) The school stopped accepting Jewish children.

D) She insulted Miss Rachel.

2. What food do the Russian soldiers give to the people on the train?

A) Stale bread and sheep cheese

B) None

C) Cabbage soup

D) Tough strips of dried reindeer

3. Why does Esther hate the flies?

A) They fly into her ears and mouth.

B) They carry disease.

C) They spoil the family's food.

D) They are free to go where they please.

4. What impresses Esther the most when she and Grandmother visit Rubtsovsk for the first time?

A) The movie theater

B) The market square

C)  The school

D) The huts on the edge of the village

5. In what genre is The Endless Steppe written?

A) Biography

B) Novel

C) Memoir

D) Epistolary

6. How does Father react when the secret police offer him food?

A) He remains silent.

B) He cries.

C) He breaks down and agrees to spy.

D) He prays.

7. Why does Esther want to cut off her braids?

A) They are stiff with clay.

B) Svetlana envies them.

C) A teacher makes an insulting remark about Jews.

D) She has lice.

8. What is the steppe like in the springtime?

A) An ocean of mud

B) Green and beautiful

C) Covered in snow

D) Hot, windy, and dusty

9. What incident leads to Esther's realization that she must help earn money for the family?

A) She loses the money they need for food.

B) Her father is forced to leave for the front.

C) Her grandmother becomes ill.

D) Mother is shamed by Uncle Yozia's charity.

10. What does Esther do when the red sweater she works so hard to knit does not fit?

A) She gives up knitting.

B) She demands payment because she has measured correctly.

C) She gives it to a child whose mother cannot knit.

D) She rips it apart and starts over.

11. What is ironic about Esther getting lost in the blizzard?

A) In her anger, she had wished the dressmaker would freeze to death.

B) She has a great fear of getting lost on the steppe.

C) She risks the storm to get food but then is not paid.

D) She and her family used to love playing in the snow in Poland.

12. Why does Esther run for editor of the school newspaper?

A) She wants to demonstrate how well she has learned Russian.

B) She thinks it will help her get a certain boy's attention.

C) She wants to show the harsh teacher at her old school that she can excel.

D) She will be able to spend more time at school, where it is warm.

13. How does the masquerade party provide a lesson about socialism?

A) The factory head's daughter gets preferential treatment.

B) Everyone has been invited, regardless of their means.

C) The party attendees stick with their own groups and do not mingle.

D) Yuri struts about as though he owns the place.

14. What does Father do upon his release?

A) Rejoins his family in Rubtsovsk

B) Begins restoring the family home in Poland

C) Writes a letter to Esther but is never heard from again

D) Goes to Vilna to say his goodbyes to family he lost

15. What does Esther realize when her sapogy and fufaika are not admired in Poland?

A) The city people are snobs.

B) Her own ideas of what is beautiful have changed.

C) They are the clothes of Siberia, and her exile is over.

D) She has become an outsider in her own country.

Long Answer

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

1. Describe Esther's attitude toward God and prayer. What does she pray for? What symbol is particularly meaningful to her? 2. What are some of the things Esther's parents do to try to make life in Siberia more bearable for her?