View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many miles away was Tenafly from Teaneck?

2. At what age did Balakian's father leave France for the United States?

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

4. What was Balakian's temperature when he was delirious with the measles?

5. What stock did grandmother recommend buying after she had a dream?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Balakian's grandmother continue to affect him even after her death?

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

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

5. How did Balakian's memorial poem for his grandmother reflect his Armenian past?

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

7. What did the phrase "the old country" mean to Balakian as a child?

8. 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?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the Balakian family lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, Peter felt a special kinship with the Jews. Why did he feel this connection? Was it simply a matter of being exposed to a tight-knit community or was there something deeper that Peter could not have articulated? Why did he feel left out when his own family had traditions? If he had known at the time about the Armenian genocide, would the connection have been deeper?

Essay Topic 2

Balakian's family became quickly assimilated into the American suburbs. Aside from the food, Peter Balakian was not exposed to any distinctly Armenian cultural traditions. Write an essay exploring the question of whether assimilation requires that immigrants leave behind their cultures. Is it possible to blend two cultures? Can immigrants retain treasured traditions and still be considered assimilated? Why was the author's family so eager to become assimilated? Would their attitude have been different if Armenia had, at the time, existed as an independent nation?

Essay Topic 3

The Turkish government has never apologized for the Armenian genocide and the world has moved on. What impact, if any, would an official Turkish apology have on the Armenian people today? Is it possible for an apology to be delivered a century later? How would the Armenian people benefit from an apology before the world? Would it free them? Would it free the Turks?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,099 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample