View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the villagers return to Biram, what happens?

2. Who is Katoub?

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

4. What does the second Supreme Court rule?

5. Where does Elias go?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Elias and his friend find the studies in Paris?

2. What type of journal did Elias begin when he was at school? How long did this journal last?

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

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

5. What did the Zionist soldiers tell the people in Elias's hometown and how did they respond?

6. Who declared Israel an independent state in May 1948 and then what did he do? How did the world respond?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Michael Chacour began to realize that Elias, at age twelve, preeminently, was more spiritually oriented than the other children. Accordingly, when the Church Bishop visited, he requested assistance in locating a school for his youngest son. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think it is a positive step for Michael to send a twelve year old away from home for the purpose of schooling? What would be the advantages for Elias? The disadvantages?

2. If you or your child could not obtain the type of schooling you want while living with your family would you being willing to leave at age 12 or send your 12 year old away to school? Why or why not?

3. What are the goals that Michael has for Elias in going away to school? Do you think Elias fulfills those goals?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,203 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample