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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. Which of Leila's five friends believes that there two kinds of families?

2. What is the last name of the morgue orderly named Kameel?

3. Who paid the majority of the veterinary bill for the animal Humeyra and Leila saved together on the night they met?

4. It is revealed that of the four sex workers murdered in the last month, which woman had fought her attacker the hardest?

5. Bitter Ma launched a deep cleaning of the brothel in anticipation of how many soldiers arriving in Istanbul?

Short Essay Questions

1. From which character's perspective is the chapter entitled "This Manic Old City" written?

2. What trophy do the two murderers keep on the dashboard of their silver Mercedes?

3. Who becomes frustrated with Zaynab122 in the chapter entitled "Normal Female Citizens" and why?

4. What is the significance of the chapter title "Normal Female Citizens"?

5. What new information about the recent murders of sex workers does the reader learn in the chapter entitled "The Apartment"?

6. How did Leila meet Humeyra, as depicted within the chapter entitled "Ten Minutes"?

7. How do Leila's five friends finally gain access to information about the whereabouts of Leila's body?

8. What sight causes Humeyra to smile "for the first time in hours" (194) in the chapter entitled "The Apartment"?

9. What was the ultimate fate of Leila's husband D/Ali?

10. Is the young man featured in the chapter called "The View from Above" right or wrong to accuse his father of murder?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of D/Ali’s character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Shafak in depicting D/Ali and include in your discussion the reasons that Shafak portrays D/Ali in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Shafak's treatment of truth, lies, and hypocrisy within the text of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Shafak’s novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,189 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample