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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. Where do the children in Biram attend school?

2. Why does Israel heed the United States's wishes?

3. What was increasingly happening to non-Jewish Palestinians?

4. Why is Elias often punished at his new school?

5. What does Elias's father purchase?

Short Essay Questions

1. With what was Elias suspected of doing by Zionist soldiers and what was the final outcome of that accusation?

2. What did Michael Chacour begin to realize about Elias and what did he do about it?

3. Under whose rule was Palestine since the 1930's, what kind of people was the population, how did they get along and how did the residents feel about themselves after World War II?

4. What type of journal did Elias begin when he was at school? How long did this journal last?

5. What did the new Jewish landowners find out about their land and what did they do about it?

6. What did the Zionist soldiers tell the people in Elias's hometown and how did they respond?

7. How did the Beatitudes appear to Elias and why?

8. Who did Elias become friends with at the orphanage and what happened when the two of them finished their studies there?

9. What happens in Palestine when the United Nations steps into the conflict?

10. What did Elias begin to do after so many people were taken from the village of Gish? What did he believe about the situation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The intellectual approach to Biblical study was frustrating for Elias, as he continued to struggle for a personal, emotional relationship with his God and Jesus. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think Elias means about having a personal, emotional relationship with God and Jesus? How does he demonstrate this?

2. Why do you think Elias' seminary emphasizes the intellectual over the emotional in terms of Christianity?

3. Why do you think the seminary wants students who do not question the material presented and who are submissive? Does this really serve the church positively? What can questioning do for one's faith ultimately?

Essay Topic 2

While the Irgun attempts at eliminating the men of the community is going on, Katoub, Elias' mother, becomes the "rock" of the village, gathering her strength from prayer and faith, consoling and encouraging the other women of the village. Discuss one the following:

1. Do you think women are often the spiritual force behind the men in life? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own experience. If women had been making the decisions for both sides, how might things have been different?

2. Why do you think women are rarely mentioned in Chacour's book? He enters a totally male profession also, yet he says his mother has the greatest influence on him as a child. Are women valued in this culture? Why or why not? How are women viewed in general in the Middle East?

3. How are Israeli women viewed differently from those in the Arab countries that surround Israel?

Essay Topic 3

A second Supreme Court ruling returns Biram to its original residents. This time, the soldiers gave the villagers the date of December 25 for return. On Christmas morning, the villagers of Gish walked to Biram, only to find the village still surrounded by soldiers and tanks. Then, as the returning residents watched, the Zionists destroyed the village. Elias is devastated but, even more, experiences a rage that cannot be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus to love and pray for one's enemies. Discuss the following:

1. Is Elias' rage understandable? Do you think he expects too much of himself to want to love and pray for the soldiers as he watches them destroy his village?

2. How does Elias eventually release the rage he experiences at the Zionist? Does it seem he is sincerely healed of the anger?

3. One of Jesus' teachings says that if someone smite you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. Is this realistic in a situation such as the one with the Zionist destroying Biram? Why or why not? What kind of person would be able to follow such a teaching? Could you?

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