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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. In what year was the term genocide coined?

2. Where did Balakian carry the bones he collected at Der Zor when he went through customs in New York?

3. What city managed to protect itself from Turkish invaders in the 17th century, thereby stopping the expansion of Ottoman power throughout Western Europe?

4. Where were the Roman ruins visited by Balakian in Syria, after his visit to Der Zor?

5. Until what year were Christians forbidden to serve in the Ottoman army?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How has the Turkish government used its influence to prevent honest discussion of the Armenian genocide over the years?

4. What did Dovey mean when she said that Turkish culture was theft?

5. What was significant about the murder of 250 Armenian intellectuals on the eve of the genocide and what was significant about Bishop Balakian's survival?

6. Why were the orders for deportation of all Armenians into the Syrian desert the equivalent of a death sentence?

7. According to Aunt Gladys, why did the Armenians in America never talk about the genocide?

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

9. How did writing the poem, "The History of Armenia," help Balakian process his new knowledge of his people's history?

10. What were the Young Turks like in terms of personality and education?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Balakian's grandmother initially sought compensation from the Turkish government for her family's sufferings. How important is compensation to the victims of state-sponsored terror? Can any compensation be sufficient or does the compensation have a deeper, more symbolic meaning? Did the grandmother's filing of the documents help her process the events? Can there ever be sufficient compensation for the Armenian people, especially almost a century after the genocide?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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