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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 of cleats does Darius procure for Sohrab?

2. With whom does Darius partner for his first game of Rook?

3. Which of the following does Darius remember to pack before playing soccer with Sohrab again?

4. How many daughters does Jamsheed have?

5. In the comment, “It’s like he’s always making things hard on himself” (195), the antecedent for the pronoun “he” is which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why, per Darius, is kabob koobideh “the most suspicious-looking” of Persian foods (259-60)?

2. Why, per Darius, is sumac served as an accompaniment to chelo kabob?

3. Why does Darius realize Sohrab had been surprised he had not agreed to visit him on the day after Nowruz?

4. What is the irony of Darius complaining to Sohrab about Stephen?

5. What reasons does Darius note for identifying Sohrab as a good listener at the Bahrami Nowruz celebration?

6. Why, as Darius asserts to Sohrab at the Bahrami Nowruz celebration, is Stephen unhappy with him?

7. In the baad gir in Yazd, Darius is taken by what he sees. What is it that he sees?

8. Why does Darius note that Stephen’s chin scratches him?

9. What is sky burial in the novel?

10. In the group soccer game Darius and Sohrab play against Ali-Reza and Hossein, there is a metaphor in the opposing team’s goal being “completely undefended” against Sohrab’s play (247)? What is the vehicle to the undefended goal’s tenor, and how is it connected?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following:

“Stephen Kellner always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt.

“Everyone except me” (184).

Does the novel as a whole support or reject the assertion? What in the novel sustains that support or rejection? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, Darius notes some embarrassment whenever he is asked whether he has a girlfriend. Why might he be thusly embarrassed? What in the novel supports that answer? How does it support the answer?

Essay Topic 3

Consider the following:

“I was one tiny pulsar in a swirling, luminous galaxy of Iranians, held together by the gravity of thousands of years of culture and heritage.

“There was nothing like it back home.

“Maybe the Super Bowl.” (220)

Explicate the comparison between the two: millennia-long Persian culture and major U.S. athletic events. What is suggested, and how, based on the novel and experience?

(see the answer keys)

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