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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 bakshish?

2. When did the first Armenian genocide resolution come before the U.S. Congress?

3. Who signed the documents outlining the Turkish plan for the extermination of the Armenian nation?

4. Approximately how many Armenian women were forced to dance in the Diarbekir square when Dovey saw them?

5. In what year did the Young Turks take over the crumbling Ottoman Empire?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why did the Armenians form reform movements under Ottoman rule during the 1890s?

5. Why did Balakian question his failure to ask questions as a child when he saw the names of the dead listed on his grandmother's compensation documents?

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

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

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

9. 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?

10. Why did Balakian eventually come to see his family's silence about the genocide as a gift?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Armenians in the United States--including Balakian's family--generally attempted to assimilate into American culture. How did this assimilation impact their ability to thrive after the genocide? Did assimilation mean an abandonment of Armenian culture? Or did they maintain traditions that could no longer be maintained in their wiped out homeland? Did assimilation make it easier for the survivors and their descendants to deal with the fact of genocide?

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