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. What does Lalami note about the 5 freeway where the Canadian border is?

2. What does Lalami say people from industrialized countries who immigrate are called in "Assimilation"?

3. What was Amado Martinez-Fuerte charged with?

4. Lalami suggests that a common American perception that Arabs and Muslims are inferior comes from what source?

5. Rather than trying to assimilate to indigenous tribes, what did Europeans and early American settlers do to the natives?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lalami note at the end of "Allegiance" about the prior use of the Pomona Fairplex, where she received her citizenship?

2. What are some of the strict rules Lalami says she learned of her religion in the chapter "Faith"?

3. While reading from her novel The Moor's Account, what questions do audience members ask?

4. In what ways did Lalami's grandmother live a traditional Muslim life?

5. Under what administration was Operation Hold the Line implemented? How successful was it?

6. What was Pat Buchanan's response in 1992 against Bush's 1990 law allowing more immigrants to apply for visas?

7. Describe John McCain's response to a woman who said she could not trust Obama because he was "an Arab"(18) and what is the implication according to Lalami in "Allegiance"?

8. Describe the conversation Lalami had with a seat mate on an airplane about Koreans in Gardena, California.

9. What year is it and why is Lalami at a ceremony at the start of "Allegiance"?

10. Describe Trump's "deceitful move" in banning Muslims according to Lalami in "Allegiance."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing the visual images and symbols used in Conditional Citizens. Identify direct examples from the book and explore possible meanings.

Essay Topic 2

What do border walls signify in Conditional Citizens? What specific border walls are discussed in the book? How do these walls impact the narrative and develop themes of citizenship and inequality?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the ending of Conditional Citizens. How did the ending fit into the narrative? Do you think the ending was effective? In what ways does the final chapter develop the theme of progress? What might the author have done differently?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 779 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample