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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. How many siblings does Nadia have?

2. In Chapter 5, how many trenches are dug in the courtyard of Saeed's apartment building for public toilets?

3. In Chapter 2, where does Nadia say that she would like to travel?

4. How long after his parents' marriage was Saeed born?

5. What is the man wearing in Chapter 2, who is nursing a drink he has not paid for?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Nadia say goodbye to the man she has been seeing in Chapter 2?

2. What has Nadia's relationship been like with her family?

3. In Chapter 4, what does Nadia see the two times she passes her family's home in Chapter 4?

4. In Chapter 5, how are funerals different than they were before the fighting?

5. In Chapter 1, how are Saeed and Nadia described?

6. In Chapter 3, what is said about the city getting telephone after independence?

7. How did Saeed's parents meet?

8. In Chapter 3 after the assault on the stock exchange, how do the militants change their strategy?

9. At the end of Chapter 3, what is switched off and how does that affect Nadia, Saeed, and others in the city?

10. In Chapter 1, when Saeed asks Nadia to coffee, how much fighting has the city seen where they live?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nadia and Saeed both have dreams in Chapter 9. What are their dreams? What do these dreams reveal about Nadia and Saeed’s focus on the past and present? What do the dreams reveal about the comfort level that Nadia and Saeed have in their new lives and how they face the future?

Essay Topic 2

When the militants begin to take over, windows change from being sources of light and air. Instead they become a fragile barrier that cannot stop bullets or other hazards. What do windows represent during peace? What do windows represent during war time? How does the meaning and symbolism of windows change from peace time to war time?

Essay Topic 3

The author uses foreshadowing to provide hints to readers of events to come. What are some events that are foreshadowed in the novel? How does the foreshadowing affect suspense in the novel? How does it affect the storyline?

(see the answer keys)

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