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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 does Elias begin to write?

2. What is Elias's schedule like in Nazareth?

3. Of what does Elias's father make certain?

4. What story does Elias's father explain to his children?

5. How does Elias feel about school?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the Zionist soldiers battling in Palestine in the late 1940's and what is the result of those battles?

2. What did Elias begin to do after so many people were taken from the village of Gish? What did he believe about the situation?

3. What did the new Jewish landowners find out about their land and what did they do about it?

4. What did a second Supreme Court rule about the town of Biram and what happened after that ruling?

5. How did Elias's teachers view him at the seminary and why?

6. What did Elias realize about serving God as he neared graduation from seminary?

7. What happens in Palestine when the United Nations steps into the conflict?

8. Under whose rule was Palestine since the 1930's, what kind of people was the population, how did they get along and how did the residents feel about themselves after World War II?

9. What were the three important principles Elias learned from his father as stated in the section, Treasures of the Heart?

10. What did Elias see in Jesus and how did he feel about Jesus? How did Elias see his interaction with Jesus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As a youngster, Elias loves to hear about Jesus and his miracles from his mother. Discuss the following:

1. Trace and analyze the young Elias' religious involvement. How influential is his early religious life on who he becomes? Does his spirituality seem sincere? Why or why not?

2. Elias has difficulty understanding the Beatitudes. What are the Beatitudes? State them. Choose two of them to interpret in light of your own beliefs.

3. Discuss Elias' view of Jesus and how Elias comes to be either like or not like the image Elias holds of Jesus.

Essay Topic 2

At a seminary in Paris, Faraj states that, "The real problem is that Western theology starts with man as the center of all things... Elias, we've grown up believing that God is the beginning and end of all things. He is central, not an afterthought. He's alive and has His own ways. Here, they want to tame God with their philosophy " (pg. 117.) Discuss the following:

1. Do you think Faraj's condmenation of Western theology is justified? Does it seem harsh?

2. What do you think are the cultural differences between Elias' childhood world and the Western world that might make such a statement true (if it is true)?

3. Do you think such a blanket statement if fair in this situation or in any situation? What happens when one generalizes about people?

What generalizations were there about Palestinians that were not either true at all or were only true for a small number of Palestinians.

Essay Topic 3

When Elias' father, brothers and other men of Biram are making their way back to their homelands, they walk through Syria and receive no help from Arab villages, who saw them as "dirty Palestinians" and dangerous to their own well-being. Discuss the following:

1. Are the Syrians justified in not offering help to the returning Palestinians?

2. Why do you think the Syrians would call Elias' father, brothers and other men of Biram "dirty Palestinians"? Is this a means of making themselves feel better?

3. How do you think Elias' father, brothers and other men of Biram could be dangerous to the Syrian's well being?

(see the answer keys)

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