Behind the Bedroom Wall

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Korinna becomes less like Rita and more like Eva, illustrating her increasing compassion for Jewish people and Jewish sympathizers and her disillusionment with the Nazi regime.

• How do Rita and Eva function as literary foils in terms of their beliefs about the Nazi treatment of Jews and Jewish sympathizers? (topic sentence)
• Describe how Korinna is initially more aligned with Rita’s beliefs.
• In your concluding sentences, explore how Korinna’s changed behaviors and beliefs at the end of the novel align her with Eva’s compassion and morality.

2. The Krugmanns face unimaginable stress, deprivation, and grief from antisemitism, illustrating some of the horrors faced by Jews at this time.

• Why do the Krugmanns have to hide in the Rehmes’s house? (topic sentence)
• What deprivations do they suffer while there? What deprivations suffered by Herr Krugmann and Ruth at their hiding place do readers learn about indirectly?
• In your concluding sentence(s), consider how the Krugmanns’ escape, particularly Rachel’s cheerful wave from the bicycle, leaves the reader feeling hopeful that the family’s prospects might improve?

3. Williams demonstrates the immorality of the Nazi system by emphasizing the way in which morally righteous characters are punished and maligned, while evil characters are rewarded and powerful.

• How does Rita’s brother Hans, a member of the Gestapo, exploit his power to violently discipline and intimidate those around him? (topic sentence)
• Contrast Hans’s power with the consequences for the Rehmes and other families who are sympathetic to Jewish people in Chapters 5-14 (for instance, extreme stress and suspicion, raids, arrest).
• In your concluding sentence(s), describe the way the Rehmes are forced to hurriedly escape their home in Chapter 15 with no possessions, on the run as political enemies for their suspected role in harboring and helping Jewish people.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Should Rita be viewed as a villainous betrayer or as a brainwashed child? Introduce your argument in a short paragraph, and then justify your point of view with three main reasons. Consider the following: What beliefs are imparted to Rita through her jungmädel? How does her brother, Hans, act towards Jewish sympathizers and suspected Jewish sympathizers, and how might this impact Rita? Do you believe that this justifies her betrayal of her best friend, Korinna, in treating Korinna with suspicion, excluding her, stealing her black book, and luring her into a confession about her compassion for Jewish people? As you compose your essay, support your chosen argument with textual evidence that either condemns or excuses Rita’s behavior.   

2. Explore Frau Rehme’s function as a symbol of integrity and dissension in Nazi Germany. How does her decision to harbor Jews, despite the risk to her own life, illustrate her strong moral code and her beliefs in the importance of freedom from persecution? How is her respect for the traditions and practices of others illustrated in her preparation of a separate kosher meal for Sophie and Rachel? How does she help Korinna to appreciate that Sophie and Rachel are people deserving of respect, in spite of everything that Korinna has learned to the contrary? How might the arrest of her best friend for harboring Jews have affected Frau Rehme? Find textual evidence that foregrounds Frau Rehme’s compassion and integrity to illustrate her function as a symbol of morally righteous dissent.

3. How does Williams leverage reader sympathy for the Krugmanns’ hardships to condemn Nazi ideology more broadly? Consider the Krugmanns’ function as a symbol of thousands of other Jewish people who faced these deprivations. Describe Korinna’s brief experience of the smelly, confined closet in which Sophie and Rachel are forced to live for months. Describe the circumstances of Ruth’s death. How is Ruth’s death rendered more tragic by the fact that Rachel draws her sister with blonde hair and blue eyes? How does Sophie try to manage Rachel’s boredom and misery? Use text evidence to explore the hardships faced by the family and to suggest their function in the author’s critique of Nazi ideology.