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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. What is a hamal?

2. Where was the Armenian King Leo V buried?

3. In what year was Nersesian College founded?

4. Why was Dr. Reyhadi refused admittance into the Balakian's country club?

5. During the death march Dovey was on, what did the Armenians eat when they were near the Roman ruins at Ourfa?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What was the deeper significance of the way in which Dovey's father was killed?

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What was the deeper significance of the 500 pairs of shoes stolen by the Turks from Balakian's grandfather?

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 Nafina frequently had dreams that she insisted were prophetic. How did most of the family members react to these dreams? How did Peter react to them? In what way was Nafina still tied to traditional Armenian culture through these dreams? Did Peter's father reject these prophetic dreams because he was a scientifically-minded person or because he wanted to be an assimilated American?

Essay Topic 3

Peter's Aunt Anna was convinced that surrealism was the only legitimate form of writing because it represented the only legitimate way of responding to human events. How did her experiences in the Armenian genocide influence her feelings? Could surrealism be a healthy response to horrific events? Did the surrealism admired by Anna provide her with a health way of processing her emotions? Can surrealism speak to horrific historical events? Or does it serve to obscure the past and make it more difficult for people to come to terms with their sufferings? Are there some events that are so horrific they must be remembered with straightforward descriptions in order to teach future generations?

(see the answer keys)

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