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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. Which of the following trees lines the walkways of the public garden in Yazd Darius visits with Sohrab and his family?

2. With which of the following does Darius bribe Laleh as the Bahramis approach the Towers of Silence?

3. The term “noon-e sangak” carries which of the following meanings, per the novel?

4. Which of the following does Darius note is incorporated into Persian ice cream?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

7. What reasons does Darius give for being jealous of Sohrab at the Bahrami Nowruz party?

8. What does Darius note wanting to learn from Simin, but which he is unable to ask after?

9. What does Darius wonder about Ardeshir as he helps him set up card tables for serving chelo kabob?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Darius repeatedly notes Stephen’s prototypically or stereotypically Germanic persona. What might be the purpose of calling attention to it? What in the novel suggests as much? How does it make the suggestion?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Darius muses on the word “Aryan” and its multiple—and multiply uncomfortable—meanings (13-14). What other words have such shades of meaning in the novel? What in the text indicates those meanings, and how does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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