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

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

3. What color are the “truck nuts” left with Darius’s bicycle?

4. Through which of the following airports do the Kellners fly on their trip to Iran?

5. The word “klaxon” most nearly means which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

1. What activities does Darius report undertaking with Laleh that he does not disclose to others?

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

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

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

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

6. What reasons does Darius give for disliking Subway?

7. What reasons does Darius give for mistrusting his mother’s assertion that his eyes are beautiful?

8. What is Surrender Cobra?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following:

“‘Wow,’ I breathed.

“It felt like the kind of place where you were supposed to whisper.

“‘You say that a lot.’

“‘Sorry.’

“‘Don’t be. I like it’” (246).

To what “it” does the last line refer? Why might Sohrab like it? What in the novel indicates that reason, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

As Darius prepares to leave Iran, he notes that he intends to call Fariba weekly but knows he will fail, noting that “Because each time I talked to her, I’d have to say good-bye.

“Now that we were part of each other’s lives—our real lives, not our photonic ones—I didn’t know if I could survive that” (299).

Given that, is Darius better off for having had the experience of meeting his Persian family? How does the novel support or deny the idea?

Essay Topic 3

Darius considers the following:

“I wondered if all fathers secretly wanted to kill their sons. Just a little bit.

“Maybe that explained Stephen Kellner.

“Maybe it did” (89).

Is Darius’s wondering correct within the context of the novel? What in the text indicates whether it is or not? How does it do so.

(see the answer keys)

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