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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. The word “salaam” means which of the following, per the novel?

2. How long does it take the Bahramis and Kellners to reach Persepolis from Yazd?

3. What color headscarf does Laleh wear to arrive in Iran?

4. In what grade is Laleh?

5. The phrase “pedar sag” carries which of the following meanings, per the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is meant by the phrase “Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy,” and who are prominent early examples of the phrase?

2. What reasons does Darius give for disliking Subway?

3. In what condition do the Bahramis and Kellners find Persepolis?

4. What is Ardeshir doing when Darius first sees him in Iran?

5. What reasons does Darius give for avoiding detailed discussion of his school as he rides from Tehran to Yazd with Fairba?

6. What reasons does Darius give for considering Jean-Luc Picard the best Star Trek captain?

7. What reasons does Darius have to doubt Fariba’s pronouncement of his handsomeness as he rides from Tehran to Yazd with her?

8. What does Darius note are his main areas of Farsi knowledge?

9. What reasons does Darius give for Stephen laughing after his backpack is broken?

10. What reasons does Darius posit for Ardeshir’s dislike of Stephen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following passage:

“[Laleh] was a replacement. An upgrade. I knew that without anyone saying it out loud.

“And I knew Stephen Kellner was relieved to have another chance, a new child who wouldn’t be such a disappointment. It was written across his face every time he smiled at her. Every time he sighed at me.

“I didn’t blame Laleh for that.

“I really didn’t.

“But sometimes I wondered if I was the one who was an accident.

“That’s normal.

“Right?” (133).

Answer Darius’s question for the novel. Is it normal? What in the novel says it is or is not? How does it say so?

Essay Topic 2

Consider Darius’s thought that “For Fariba Bahrami, love was an opportunity, not a burden” (75). How can love serve as either opportunity or burden? What in the novel and in experience supports the interpretation? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of “Chelo Kabob,” Stephen appears to reach an accord with his father- and brothers-in-law during a conversation about grilling (261). Why would the topic serve such a function? What in the novel and in experience indicates as much? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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