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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 happening in the new Jewish government?

2. When do the men who were taken by the Irgun return?

3. Since when has Palestine been under British rule?

4. How do the Zionist soldiers act?

5. Where does Elias travel for a retreat?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the Beatitudes appear to Elias and why?

2. What events of the 1960's colored Elias's view of the church and why?

3. How did Elias feel about school and where else did he learn what he considered important?

4. 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?

5. What would a current student of the Middle East find strange about Palestine in the late 1940's?

6. Who did Elias become friends with at the orphanage and what happened when the two of them finished their studies there?

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

8. With what was Elias suspected of doing by Zionist soldiers and what was the final outcome of that accusation?

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' father explain about the Jews coming to the town?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A second Supreme Court ruling returns Biram to its original residents. This time, the soldiers gave the villagers the date of December 25 for return. On Christmas morning, the villagers of Gish walked to Biram, only to find the village still surrounded by soldiers and tanks. Then, as the returning residents watched, the Zionists destroyed the village. Elias is devastated but, even more, experiences a rage that cannot be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus to love and pray for one's enemies. Discuss the following:

1. Is Elias' rage understandable? Do you think he expects too much of himself to want to love and pray for the soldiers as he watches them destroy his village?

2. How does Elias eventually release the rage he experiences at the Zionist? Does it seem he is sincerely healed of the anger?

3. One of Jesus' teachings says that if someone smite you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. Is this realistic in a situation such as the one with the Zionist destroying Biram? Why or why not? What kind of person would be able to follow such a teaching? Could you?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator of the book is Elias Chacour, who writes from his own point of view as he experiences and hears about events concerning the formation of the State of Israel and the ongoing conflict concerning the problems that arise out of that formation. Discuss the following:

1. What is meant by a reliable or unreliable narrator? Which do you think Elias is? Why?

2. What would Elias gain by skewing the story of his life? Do you think the gain would be worth the potential cost if he were to be proven to be inaccurate?

3. Is any narrator of a "true" story totally reliable? What factors might affect the reliability of any autobiographical writer including Elias?

Essay Topic 3

Elias himself was the victim of the Zionists, when he and his friends were singled out as culprits in the cutting of a telephone line. He and his father were interrogated for hours and Elias beaten. Though it was later discovered that a truck had inadvertently driven over the wire, severing it, there was never an apology or an admission of a mistake. Discuss the following:

1. What might an apology have done to the situation? Why do you think the Zionist do not offer one?

2. Are hours of interrogation and a beating overboard for the offense? Why or why not?

3. In response to these events, Elias chooses to retreat to solitude, again talking to Jesus and coming to the conclusion that somehow he would become a part of God's plan for peace. Do you think this is a worthwhile plan? Why or why not?

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