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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. To which American writer did Balakian send his poems while at Bucknell College?
(a) Robert Pirsig.
(b) Allen Ginsberg.
(c) Jack Kerouac.
(d) Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

2. According to Armenian legend, what animal was Adam's first companion in the Garden of Eden?
(a) Tiger.
(b) Snake.
(c) Musk ox.
(d) Elk.

3. What book caused a racial flareup among the football players during Balakian's freshmen year at college?
(a) The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
(b) Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.
(c) Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice.
(d) W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk.

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

5. What meat did the Balakian family frequently eat for dinner?
(a) Chicken.
(b) Goat.
(c) Lamb.
(d) Beef.

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 Ginsberg poem did Balakian's mother want several copies of?

3. In what year was the Armenian empire at its height?

4. What instrument did Balakian's cousin Haigie play?

5. How many months worth of canned evaporated milk were Americans advised to have on hand during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What was Balakian's reaction to the film, The Graduate?

4. 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?

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

6. Describe Balakian' s father.

7. In what way was Balakian's attachment to the Jewish families in his first neighborhood ultimately superficial, and could it have been deeper?

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

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

10. In what ways did life at Auntie Anna's and Uncle Steve's house differ from life in the Balakian household?

(see the answer keys)

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