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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where were Balakian and his father when the young woman spoke to the father about leaving her abusive husband?
(a) California.
(b) Idaho.
(c) Washington.
(d) Oregon.

2. What junk food did Balakian reminisce about eating at the Dillstein's house?
(a) Mallomars.
(b) Hostess Cupcakes.
(c) Ding-Dongs.
(d) Devil Dogs.

3. What was the name of the poetry journal Balakian founded in 1976?
(a) Oak Street Review.
(b) Graham House Review.
(c) Surrealism Review.
(d) Crabtree Lane Review.

4. In grandmother's dream about her friend Nevart (described in "The Woman in Blue"), what was Nevart drinking?
(a) Rosewater.
(b) Whiskey.
(c) Beer.
(d) Tahn.

5. On how many hills was Constantinople built?
(a) Seven.
(b) Ten.
(c) Six.
(d) Four.

6. What Ginsberg poem did Balakian's mother want several copies of?
(a) Please Master.
(b) Hum Bomb.
(c) Kaddish.
(d) Howl.

7. What is berek?
(a) A rice dish.
(b) A pistachio dessert.
(c) Cheese-filled filo triangles.
(d) Kebabs.

8. At what age did Aunt Nona begin institutional schooling?
(a) Sixteen.
(b) Fifteen.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Fourteen.

9. What American author was NOT mentioned as the topic of one of Aunt Anna's published literary books?
(a) Kurt Vonnegut.
(b) William Faulkner.
(c) Carson McCullers.
(d) F. Scott Fitzgerald.

10. What was the nickname of Arkayutiun, the soup Balakian ate while sick?
(a) Soup of the Soul.
(b) Soup of Heaven.
(c) Soup of Life.
(d) Soup of Love.

11. At what age did Balakian's father leave France for the United States?
(a) Six.
(b) Four.
(c) Eight.
(d) Ten.

12. What grocery store did Peter and his grandmother shop at?
(a) A&P.
(b) Safeway.
(c) Kroger's.
(d) Wegman's.

13. What does odar mean?
(a) Other.
(b) Infidel.
(c) Turk.
(d) Non-believer.

14. In what year did Balakian's father save the man having the heart attack at a Columbia game?
(a) 1956.
(b) 1960.
(c) 1955.
(d) 1958.

15. Whose biography was Peter's grandmother reading when he came down late at night to get a bite to eat?
(a) Eleanor Roosevelt.
(b) Teddy Roosevelt.
(c) Mary Todd Lincoln.
(d) Abraham Lincoln.

Short Answer Questions

1. What baseball legend was Balakian reading about while he was sick with the measles?

2. In what year did the author's family move to Tenafly, New Jersey?

3. In what part of Manhattan did Aunt Anna live?

4. In what year did Roman Emperor Constantine turn Byzantium into the imperial residence?

5. What is the significance of Mt. Ararat?

(see the answer keys)

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