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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. According to the quote from Ambassador Morgenthau, for how many days did the 18,000 Armenians march, before arriving in Aleppo during an early death march?

2. What was the Syrian government doing when the bones of Der Zor victims were dug up?

3. Where was Balakian giving the poetry reading which his Aunt Anna attended?

4. Who wrote The Nazi Doctors?

5. In what city did Balakian's co-worker Jimmy grow up?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Balakian feel about claims that the Turkish denials fall under free speech?

2. How did American Ambassador Morgenthau attempt to help the Armenians?

3. How was the Armenian-Lebanese town of Anjar settled?

4. Why is Der Zor considered the Armenian equivalent of Auschwitz?

5. How does genocide denial affect the survivors and their descendants?

6. How does numbness help people who have endured great horrors?

7. Why was Balakian surprised the Syrian government suppressed published works about the Armenian genocide?

8. Why was Balakian so affected by his visit to Aleppo, Syria?

9. How did the Turks use the geography of the land to make it easier to kill Armenians?

10. Why did Aunt Anna likely embrace surrealism rather than realism in literature?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Balakian did not learn about the Armenian genocide or his own family's experiences until he sought out that information as an adult. Even then, some family members questioned what he was doing. Did his family do him a disservice by hiding the truth from him for so many years? Would knowing the past have enabled him to have a different, deeper understanding of the ways his family members lived their lives in America? Or did keeping the truth from him enable him to have a normal American childhood before delving into the past on his own? Did his family's "protection" of him give him a solid ground on which to stand while confronting the horrific events of the past?

Essay Topic 2

Balakian wrote about his father's love of sports and how that formed a bridge between the two. Write an essay exploring how sports can form a bond between fathers and sons. How can fathers and sons express their love for one another through a shared interest in sports? Was Peter's father able to express his love for his son in any other way? Did Peter understand that his father was expressing his love for him through sports while he was still a child? Or did he not realize that until he reached adulthood? If he did not understand it until adulthood, did that affect his relationship with his father in childhood?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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