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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. How did the native Jewish inhabitants feel about the actions of the Zionists?

2. What does Michael realize about Elias?

3. To whom does Michael speak?

4. What sort of stories does Elias's mother teach him?

5. What does the Israeli Supreme Court rule when the elders of Biram file a petition for permission to return to their homes?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What did the Bishop suggest for Elias?

5. What type of study did Elias and his friend study at the seminary and how did Elias feel about it?

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

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

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

9. How did the other seminarians in Paris where Elias went to farther his education view the Palestinian situation and Palestinians in general?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In "Singled Out," it is the end of 1949, and things had begun to change somewhat. The new Zionist landowners were unschooled in the proper cultivation of the orchards and needed to employ native Palestinians to care for them. Discuss one the following:

1. Compare and contrast Michael's reaction to working in his own orchards as hired help with that of Elias' reaction. Which reaction is more like to how you would feel? Which seems psychologically healthier? Which seems more in line with the doctrines of Christianity?

2. In this same chapter, it states that other villagers left for Haifa, hoping to secure better jobs in the new factories being built by the Jews. What is the irony in both this situation and in that of the former orchard owners working as hired hands in their orchards?

3. How do you think the Jewish families who steal the Palestinian lands justify such actions? Is the land stolen? Or paid for by fair market value? Even if the land is paid for, if the villager does not want to sell but is forced to do so, it that a fair exchange?

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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