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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. When Obama was running for president, Lalami says a women in a town hall told John McCain she could not trust Obama. What reason did she cite for this distrust?

2. After Operation Hold the Line apprehensions at the border decreased, what increased?

3. Which presidential candidate does Lalami say had to go to great lengths to show his love for America?

4. Who shot nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church according to Lalami in "Faith"?

5. In "Borders," what example does Lalami cite of the increasingly divisive rhetoric coming from the Trump administration in regards to border walls?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the difference Lalami notes between how she was treated at work in 2000 after she became a citizen and how she was treated a year later after the September 11 attacks.

2. 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"?

3. What difference does Lalami note between Obama and Trump regarding their allegiance to America?

4. What does Lalami say about the Melilla border in Morocco? How has it changed since she was a child? What does it aim to keep separate?

5. According to "Assimilation," what is the difference between how multiculturalists and nationalists define assimilation?

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

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

8. Describe the stark differences Lalami notes on either side of the Texas-Mexico border wall.

9. What are some things Lalami had to do in order to become a U.S. citizen?

10. Who founded ISIS? With what terrorist group did he first train and in what country?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Lalami's decision to juxtapose some of the story with her experience caring for her mother-in-law after she began to show signs of dementia. Why do you think Lalami chose to incorporate this story into the narrative? Do you think it was effective? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write an analysis of Lalami's commentary on poverty in Conditional Citizens. What examples of poverty does she include? How is America's view of poverty different from how Lalami describes Morocco's view?

Essay Topic 3

Write a detailed essay about the Melilla border in Morocco. What was this border like when Lalama was a child? How has it changed? Why was a steel wall erected? What does this wall aim to keep separate?

(see the answer keys)

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