The Devil s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen Summer Reading Study Guide Questions and Activities Name: Class: Teacher Name: Date: Please answer the following questions and complete the following activities using your book and the knowledge you acquired from reading this book over the summer. Please use complete sentences where applicable. Conventions are important so ensure you are using proper spelling, word usage, punctuation, and capitalization. Please include PAGE NUMBERS for each question referring to where you found your answer. 1. Where is Hannah going at the beginning of the story? Why is this important to her culture? 2. What is Hannah s attitude about the previous event in question 1? What clues lead you to make this inference? 3. What are some traditions that her family incorporates into this event? List four. 4. What are the numbers on her grandfather s arm? What is the story about her and these numbers from the past? 5. What happens to Hannah when she opens the front door?
6. Where is Hannah now? What is her name? Who is she now with? 7. What is the new big event that is happening in Hannah s new life? 8. On the way to the wedding, Hannah meets some new friends. What are their names and why are they impressed by Hannah? 9. When they arrive at the synagogue what is the problem? What does Hannah know about this problem? 10. Why does the group finally go with the soldiers? 11. Describe what the journey is like on the trains. (At least 5 details)
12. What does Hannah have difficulty remembering? 13. How does Hannah show her compassion towards others when she arrives at the camp? List three details. 14. What was coincidental about the dress that Hannah chose? Why is her Hebrew name significant? 15. What happens to the children when the Commandant comes to visit? 16. Who is Rivka? How does she help Hannah? 17. How do the prisoners of the camp describe their numbers on their arms? What do the number signify for Hannah?
18. What does it mean to organize? 19. What is the choosing? 20. What is Gitls plan? Does it work? 21. What happens right before Hannah comes back to the present? 22. When Hannah comes back to the apartment what does she discover about Rivka?
Multiple Choice Questions: 1. How did Rivka survive the processing? A. She ran away and hid in the midden. B. Hannah/Chaya switched places with her. C. She was the one not chosen by the guard. D. The oven broke down and didn't work when she was processed. 2. Who tried to help the newcomers? A. The three-fingered woman B. Rivka C. The soldiers D. The commandant 3. Who is telling the story? A. Uncle Will B. Aunt Eve C. Hannah D. Aaron 4. What did the Nazis make the villagers do? A. Give them all their money and jewels B. Get into trucks C. Lie down on the ground D. All of the above 5. What got Aaron so worried? A. He didn't like Grandpa Will. B. He had to read the Four Questions during the Seder. C. He was afraid he wouldn't win the game of afikoman. D. He was afraid of Hannah. 6. Who is Hannah supposed to be after she opens the apartment door? A. Shmuel B. Chaya C. Glit D. Aunt Eve 7. What happened to Hannah when she opened the apartment door? A. Nothing B. She saw the prophet, Elijah. C. She fainted. D. She was transported to another place and time. 8. How were the children warned that the commandant was coming? A. His driver honked his car horn. B. An alarm was sounded. C. The kitchen workers banged on their pots and pans. D. All the adults in camp made a clicking noise.
9. What happened when the wedding party arrived in Viosk? A. They had a wonderful wedding. B. They found the village destroyed. C. They found Nazi soldiers waiting for them. D. Nothing happened 10. What did Hannah get for the first time at the family Seder? A. High heels B. A set of Barbie doll clothes C. Jelly beans D. Watered down wine 11. What happened to the blokova after the attempted escape? A. She had another finger cut off. B. She was executed with the captured prisoners. C. She blamed Hannah and Aunt Gitl. D. None of the above 12. What was Hannah's job? A. She worked in the sorting shed. B. She worked in the camp kitchen. C. She worked chopping and hauling wood. D. She worked in the school. 13. What happened on the first day in the camp? A. Their heads were shaved. B. Their clothes were taken away. C. They were given tattoos. D. All of the above 14. Why did the family go to the grandparents' house? A. A birthday B. Passover Seder C. A funeral D. Easter dinner 15. What did Hannah get to do that the other girls did not get to do? A. Socialize with non-jewish girls B. Go to school C. Go shopping D. All of the above 16. What gave Hannah and Gitl hope? A. Other prisoners had been escaping successfully. B. The commandant told them they were not going to be processed. C. They heard they were going to be freed. D. They had a plan. 17. What happened to the girls as they were standing around the pump talking? A. A guard shot them because they were talking.
B. A new guard chose three of them for processing. C. The blokova chose three of them for processing. D. The commandant chose three of them for processing. 18. How does Hannah remember things? A. She relates the word to something familiar. B. She practices the words over and over again. C. She writes them down. D. She memorizes things. 19. How did Fayge die? A. She committed suicide. B. She jumped in front of Shmuel and the firing squad. C. She got sick and died. D. She died of a broken heart like her father. 20. What happened to the Jews when they arrived at the camp? A. They were forced to walk for miles. B. They were sent to the ovens. C. They were laid down and shot. D. The men and women were separated. Vocabulary: Match each definition with a word using the list of words below as a key. pock embankment stationary geography chaos crow periphery shtetl plaits quartet undecipherable tavern barracks preamble undistinguishable dominant shorn horizon shuck confer yarmulke Passover fast unleavened fervor 1. not clear, unable to be heard 2. without yeast 3. braids 4. village 5. hole 6. not moving 7. unreadable 8. hill 9. introduction 10. energy 11. point where the sky meets the earth 12. Jewish holiday when people marked their doors with blood and the soldiers passed over 13. set of four 14. cut short 15. to call out 16. conference, talk 17. disorder 18. bar 19. take off an outer layer
Multiple Choice: Select the definition that most nearly defines the given word. 1. embankment A. main, overriding B. hill 2. periphery A. border B. braids 3. geography A. hill B. the study of land 4. confer A. conference, talk B. without yeast 5. undistinguishable A. take off an outer layer B. not clear, unable to be heard 6. unleavened A. energy B. without yeast 7. stationary A. not moving B. village 8. yarmulke A. small, round cap worn by Jewish men B. the study of land 9. shuck A. bar B. take off an outer layer 10. plaits A. braids B. to call out