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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 term “khodahafes” carries which of the following meanings, per the novel?

2. In what city does Soheil live?

3. Who is Stephen’s partner at the Nowruz Rook game?

4. The term “manteaux” carries which of the following meanings, per the novel?

5. What team is represented on the jersey Sohrab gives Darius?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In the group soccer game Darius and Sohrab play against Ali-Reza and Hossein, the earlier epithet for Dairus, “Ayatollah,” is repeated but reimagined or reappropriated (249). What was its original meaning, as applied to Darius, and what is its reappropriated meaning?

3. What reasons does Shirin give for not having taught Darius Farsi?

4. What does Darius confess to Sohrab that leads him to affirm that Laleh cannot take his place?

5. 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?

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

7. What is sekanjabin in the novel?

8. Why does Darius end up feeling sorry for Ali-Reza?

9. What is sky burial in the novel?

10. What are the three things Darius notes liking in Sohrab while walking with him and his family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Near the end of “The Best of Both Worlds,” the narrator notes that he nearly refused to play soccer,

“But that’s what Darius would have done.

“Darioush would have tried out.

“I thought about telling Sohrab that I had made the team. And sending him photos of me in my kit. And him squinting and congratulating me.

“I thought about having fun on the field, like I did with him and Asghar and even Ali-Reza and Hossein.

“‘Maybe I will,’ I said. ‘Maybe I will’” (306-07).

Which persona does the narrator ultimately adopt, Darius or Darioush? What in the novel suggests as much? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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