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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. Where does Darius report wanting to work?

2. What color headscarf does Shirin wear to arrive in Iran?

3. The term “azan” carries what meaning, per the novel?

4. For what company does Stephen work?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Darius consider Javaneh brave?

2. What activity does Darius report undertaking with Laleh that she pretends not to like?

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

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

5. What reasons does Darius give for not eating falafel at home?

6. What games are included in Darius’s “net sports” unit?

7. What does Darius notice when first reaching Ashkan’s store?

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

9. How does Darius relate his mother’s early misunderstanding of taarof with his father’s parents?

10. What does Darius identify as the two most humiliating moments in his life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Darius introduces the concept of classifying things by “levels” early in the text. How does he determine levels? What in the text says so? 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

Consider the following exchange between Stephen and Darius:

“It’s my hair, Dad,” I said. “Why is it such a big deal to you, anyway?”

“Because it’s ridiculous. Did you ever thing that you wouldn’t get picked on so much if you weren’t so…”

Dad worked his jaw back and forth.

“So what, Dad”

But he didn’t answer.

What could he possibly say? (42-43)

What was Stephen about to say, but refrained from saying? What in the novel and in experience affirms that answer? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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