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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What prize did William Saroyan turn down for his play, "The Time of Your Life," in 1943?
(a) Nobel.
(b) Pulitzer.
(c) Tony.
(d) PEN.

2. In what year was the Armenian empire at its height?
(a) 25 BCE.
(b) 50 CE.
(c) 100 BCE.
(d) 50 BCE.

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

4. What sports implement was hanging in the office of Dr. Cooley, the headmaster of Balakian's new private high school?
(a) A soccer ball.
(b) A tennis racket.
(c) A baseball bat.
(d) A lacrosse stick.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In what grade was Peter during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

2. What popular song was played at Lenny Cohen's bar mitzvah?

3. How many minutes were Balakian's phone calls restricted to when he was twelve?

4. What does odar mean?

5. What anniversary was the Soviet Armenian Republic celebrating when Balakian's father wrote to his son at college urging him to learn more about the country?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Balakian's mother differ from most of the other mothers on Crabtree Lane in Tenafly?

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

3. How did Balakian's mother's behavior at the restaurant in France reflect her cultured upbringing?

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

5. Why did Balakian and Auntie Anna argue about literature?

6. How did Balakian's family's obsession with style reflect their history?

7. Why did Balakian react so strongly to Allen Ginsberg's reading of his poem "Kaddish"?

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

9. Why were books so important to Balakian's Aunt Nona?

10. When the Balakian family was preparing to move to another town, what was the deeper significance of Balakian's mother's insistence that her son not get too attached to any one place?

(see the answer keys)

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