View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was Samir's sister?

2. What story did Mernissi like to hear Mina tell repeatedly?

3. Who said happiness was inconceivable without terraces?

4. What place did Mina come from?

5. What did Mernissi want her father to have made for her when she sang nationalist songs for her grandmother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were love glances and how did Chama use them successfully?

2. How did Mina help Mernissi get out of the olive jar when she was stuck?

3. What did the grownups think that children should know about violence?

4. How did Mina survive being put down a well by her kidnappers as a young child?

5. What did Mernissi like about the way Mina danced?

6. Why did Mina feel optimistic about the future for women?

7. Why did the women of the harem believe that they had to look as ugly as possible during their beauty rituals?

8. Describe Mina's physical appearance.

9. Why was Samir thrown out of the women's hamman?

10. How did Mernissi's mother tame her daughter's unruly hair?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Yasmina's view of harems. What did she dislike about being in a harem? How did she view her co-wives? How did she provide comfort to wives who felt lonely?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of beauty rituals in harem life. What did Aunt Habiba mean when she said "Skin is political"? In what way did the women's beauty rituals scare the men?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Mernissi and Samir's relationship. What did they share when they were young and how did it change when Mernissi turned nine? What caused the rift between them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 704 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample