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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 did Balakian and his father meet the Indian dressed as a chief during their cross-country tour?

2. What colors were the threads on the brocade of Mr. Blumenthal's yarmulke?

3. Where did Franklin Delano Roosevelt attend prep school?

4. What college did Balakian's father say was "better than its name"?

5. What is the significance of Mt. Ararat?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the Wall family, who were Balakian's neighbors in Tenafly.

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

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

9. How did Balakian's father's fear of germs, as well as other family member's obsession with health and safety, reflect their experiences during the genocide?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Balakian wrote frequently about the central role food played in his extended family. What importance does food have in Armenian culture? How did the experience of starvation during the genocide impact Armenian immigrants to the U.S.? Would food still have had the same importance if the Armenians had not experienced starvation? How do immigrant families transmit their culture to their children through food? How do they express their love at the dinner table?

Essay Topic 2

To this day, the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge the deaths of Armenians as genocide. Why would the government continue to deny atrocities committed long before current Turks were even alive? How does the denial of past crimes affect the development of a nation? Can Turkey ever be considered a part of the community of modern, humane nations as long as it continues to deny the genocide? What would a confession mean to the Turkish people today? How important is critical self-evaluation to the development of a nation?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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