59 pages 1 hour read

Liz Kessler

When The World Was Ours

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008

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Essay Topics

1.

Choose two of the story’s three protagonists. How do these characters demonstrate Hope, Resilience, and the Endurance of the Human Spirit? What is the importance of hope in such destructive and hateful times? Use specific examples from the text to support your analysis.

2.

Why does Max succumb to the dictates of the Nazi ideology? What personality traits early in his life indicate that this would happen? How does Max wrestle with his inner conflict, and what is the end result?

3.

Identify and analyze at least three key scenes in which the photograph of the Ferris wheel appears. How does the meaning of the photograph shift within each scene? What aspects of its meaning remain the same?