Quiz Atomic Anna Rachel Barenbaum

Atomic Anna Quiz: 20 Questions to Test Your Understanding

This quiz covers the full scope of Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum. Use it to check your grasp of key plot events, character choices, major symbols, and the novel’s deeper questions. Each question draws on information found in the book’s outline and provided evidence. After answering, compare your responses with the key below.

Quiz Questions

Plot / Sequence (Questions 1–8)

  1. What event causes Anna Berkova’s first accidental time jump?
    A. The Soviet atomic bomb test in 1949
    B. The explosion of Chernobyl’s Reactor No. 4
    C. A tram accident in Berlin
    D. An experiment with the amplifier at Mount Aragats

  2. In which year does Molly (born Manya) first appear as a ten-year-old in Philadelphia?
    A. 1956
    B. 1961
    C. 1970
    D. 1975

  3. Who gives Anna a theater ticket in Moscow that leads to her first meeting with Yasha Berlitsky?
    A. Igor Kurchatov
    B. Otto Hahn
    C. The interrogator at Laboratory No. 2
    D. Valery Legasov

  4. Where does Anna go in her first intentional jump after the Chernobyl disaster?
    A. To 1938 Berlin to meet Lise Meitner
    B. To 1985 Pripyat to warn workers
    C. To Mount Aragats in 1991 to build a time machine
    D. To 1975 Philadelphia to find Yulia

  5. What discovery does Raisa make in a declassified Soviet report that convinces her the Atomic Anna comics are real?
    A. A diagram of the amplifier matching the comic
    B. A photo of Anna and Yasha at the station
    C. A letter from Molly to Anna
    D. A list of uranium shipments to Aragats

  6. What happens to Viktor, Molly’s partner, near the end of his storyline?
    A. He returns to Andrey and is killed
    B. He dies accidentally during a nuclear protest
    C. He goes to prison for drug trafficking
    D. He abandons Molly and Raisa in Atlantic City

  7. On December 8, 1992, who fires the shot that wounds Raisa at the Mount Aragats station?
    A. Daniel
    B. Yasha
    C. A Russian soldier
    D. Anna

  8. Where does Anna make her final time jump to break the loop?
    A. To the Chernobyl reactor in 1986
    B. To Petrograd in February 1917
    C. To Philadelphia in 1975
    D. To the 1945 victory celebration in Moscow

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

  1. Why does Anna decide to give her infant daughter Manya to Yulia and Lazar?
    A. She fears KGB surveillance and believes she will be a bad mother
    B. She wants to focus on her time-travel research without distractions
    C. Yulia and Lazar threaten to expose her scientific secrets
    D. Yasha forces her to give up the child for political reasons

  2. What drives Molly to start creating the Atomic Anna comic?
    A. Her desire to expose her mother’s wartime work
    B. Her love of Mary Marvel comics and her longing to understand Anna
    C. A school assignment to design a superhero
    D. Her father’s encouragement to pursue art

  3. Why does Molly leave her parents’ home in Philadelphia in 1969?
    A. She is accepted into an art school in New York
    B. She wants to run away with Viktor after he steals from Andrey
    C. She feels forced to care for her newborn daughter alone
    D. She discovers her parents lied about her adoption

  4. What is Raisa’s primary motivation for building a radio telescope and later seeking to fix the time machine?
    A. To prove her grandmother Anna’s theories were wrong
    B. To understand gravitational waves and prevent Chernobyl
    C. To contact her imprisoned mother Vera
    D. To win a national science competition

  5. Why does older Molly shoot herself after Raisa is wounded on Mount Aragats?
    A. She believes she has failed to protect her daughter
    B. She realizes the time loop is repeating and feels hopeless
    C. She wants to force Anna to make a different choice
    D. She is terminally ill and chooses to end her suffering

Theme / Symbol (Questions 14–17)

  1. What do the golden bear pendants (a bear at peace and a bear at war) represent in the novel?
    A. The conflict between Anna’s Soviet and American identities
    B. The dual nature of survival and the cost of family sacrifice
    C. The balance between science and art
    D. The two timelines of Chernobyl

  2. Which of these best describes the novel’s view of protective lies within families?
    A. Lies are always harmful and should be avoided
    B. Lies can offer temporary safety but eventually erode trust
    C. Lies are essential for assimilation into a new country
    D. The novel endorses any deception that protects children

  3. How does the novel connect the “ouroboros” (the snake eating its own tail) to time travel?
    A. It symbolizes the endless repetition of Anna’s jumps
    B. It represents the cyclical nature of trauma across generations
    C. It refers to the circular shape of the time machine’s amplifier
    D. It is the name of the comic book series

  4. The tram accident in 1938 Berlin inspires Anna’s theory of time travel. What key concept does she take from the event?
    A. That atomic fission creates ripples in space-time
    B. That warped tracks can be used to navigate time
    C. That blood spilled during accidents generates energy
    D. That multiple observers can collapse time paradoxes

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

  1. How does the novel use the constant presence of the Atomic Anna comic to shape the story?
    (Short answer: In one or two sentences, describe the comic’s narrative function.)

  2. If you had the power to change the past as Anna does, would the novel argue that you should use it? Base your answer on a specific moment in the book.
    (Short answer: Refer to a character’s decision and its outcome.)

  3. Compare how Anna and Molly each try to protect Raisa. What does their disagreement reveal about their relationship?
    (Short answer: Explain the differing approaches and what they show.)

Answer Key

Plot / Sequence (1–8)

  1. B — The Chernobyl explosion triggers Anna’s first jump. Evidence from the prologue shows she sleeps in Pripyat when Reactor No. 4 explodes, causing her to time-travel.
  2. B — Chapter 2 introduces ten-year-old Molly in Philadelphia in 1961. The outline explicitly states “Philadelphia, 1961.”
  3. C — The interrogator (the same man who questions Anna) slips a theater ticket into her hand in the 1943 Moscow lab scene. Evidence chapter 6 confirms this.
  4. D — Anna jumps from Mount Aragats in 1991 to 1975 Philadelphia to find Yulia. Chapter 4 details this jump.
  5. A — Raisa discovers a declassified Soviet report by Anna that contains a diagram of the amplifier. Chapter 22 evidence confirms she “steals the report” after seeing the amplifier.
  6. B — Viktor dies accidentally when police fire during a nuclear protest in which Molly is involved. Chapter 10 evidence states “Viktor’s accidental death by police.”
  7. B — Yasha fires at a soldier approaching the station, but the bullet wounds Raisa. Chapter 31 reveals Yasha shoots “an approaching soldier—only to discover it is his granddaughter Raisa.”
  8. B — Anna jumps to Petrograd in February 1917 to confront her mother Xenia. Chapter 32 explicitly states she time-travels to Petrograd the day before Xenia’s arrest.

Character Motivation (9–13)

  1. A — Anna suffers severe postpartum depression, fears she will ruin Manya, and is under KGB surveillance. Chapter 21 describes her begging Yulia to take the child.
  2. B — Molly discovers Mary Marvel comics and starts creating Atomic Anna after overhearing about her birth mother’s role in the bomb. Outline for chapter 2 confirms this.
  3. B — Viktor confesses he stole from Andrey and asks Molly to run away with him. She packs her art supplies and leaves. Chapter 5 evidence supports this.
  4. B — Raisa wants to understand gravitational waves to fix the time machine and prevent Chernobyl. Chapters 22–23 show her research on gravitons and the amplifier.
  5. B — Molly realizes the loop is repeating after Raisa is shot and shoots herself in grief, exactly as Anna witnessed on her first jump. Chapter 31 states she “shoots herself, exactly as Anna witnessed on her first jump.”

Theme / Symbol (14–17)

  1. B — The pendants symbolize the dual nature of survival (peace/war) and family sacrifice. Discussion questions in chapter 35 reference the bear necklace and its meaning.
  2. B — The novel shows that protective lies often backfire and damage trust. Chapter 35’s discussion questions ask: “What do you think the novel is saying about the ways that families communicate?” and highlight the consequences of lies.
  3. B — The ouroboros represents the cyclical nature of trauma across generations, as seen in Molly’s death repeating. Chapter 11 mentions “ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail” in the context of time turning back on itself.
  4. A — Anna realizes that one atom splitting can make a grain of sand jump, and a cluster could create ripples in space-time. Evidence from chapter 4 shows her connecting fission to ripples in space-time.

Synthesis (18–20)

  1. The comic serves as a secret communication tool and a roadmap for Raisa. It contains equations, family history, and the location of the time station, turning Molly’s art into a cipher that drives Raisa’s quest. (Chapter 28 confirms the comics chronicle family history and contain the date and coordinates.)
  2. The novel suggests that changing the past can be dangerous and futile. Anna’s repeated jumps fail to prevent Molly’s death until she learns to change herself rather than history, as seen when she finally confronts her mother instead of altering events. (Chapter 31 shows Anna deciding “she must change herself, not the past.”)
  3. Anna tries to protect Raisa by involving her in the time machine project, believing Raisa can help avert Chernobyl. Molly opposes this fiercely, wanting to shield Raisa from danger. Their disagreement reveals Molly’s distrust of Anna and Anna’s continued prioritization of science over family safety. (Chapters 11 and 12 show Molly forbidding Anna from involving Raisa, while Anna secretly sends comics to her.)