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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what did Balakian win a trophy at the end of his first year at the private high school?

2. What prize did William Saroyan turn down for his play, "The Time of Your Life," in 1943?

3. In what year did Balakian first discover a love for poetry while in English class?

4. On how many hills was Constantinople built?

5. In grandmother's dream about her friend Nevart (described in "The Woman in Blue"), what was Nevart drinking?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Balakian's grandmother tell him a story from the genocide while he was delirious with fever?

2. What did the phrase "the old country" mean to Balakian as a child?

3. Why did Balakian's father insist his son leave the public schools and attend a private school?

4. How did Balakian's grandmother react to the assault against the man on the city bus?

5. Why was Balakian's Aunt Anna so opposed to American suburbia?

6. What was Balakian's reaction to the folktales his grandmother would frequently tell him?

7. Did Balakian's father have a strong connection to Constantinople, and how did that reflect the city's tumultuous history?

8. What impression did the writer, William Saroyan, make on Balakian during the party at his aunt's apartment?

9. How did Balakian's family's attachment to food reflect their ancestors' history?

10. How did Balakian react to seeing his father perform emergency medical care to the heart attack victim at the football game?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the Balakian family lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, Peter felt a special kinship with the Jews. Why did he feel this connection? Was it simply a matter of being exposed to a tight-knit community or was there something deeper that Peter could not have articulated? Why did he feel left out when his own family had traditions? If he had known at the time about the Armenian genocide, would the connection have been deeper?

Essay Topic 2

Balakian's grandfather Diran was a physician who served during the genocide and was required at times to treat Turkish soldiers. He did so knowing that many of these soldiers were likely to return to the front to kill more Armenians. Write an essay exploring how he was able to deal with this situation. Did knowing what these men were doing impact his ability to follow the Hippocratic Oath? Why did he treat the Turkish soldiers?

Essay Topic 3

Armenians in the United States--including Balakian's family--generally attempted to assimilate into American culture. How did this assimilation impact their ability to thrive after the genocide? Did assimilation mean an abandonment of Armenian culture? Or did they maintain traditions that could no longer be maintained in their wiped out homeland? Did assimilation make it easier for the survivors and their descendants to deal with the fact of genocide?

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