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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 is the title of Chapter 7?

2. In the beginning of Chapter 13, the narrator states that there is nothing in the cell that holds Khalid aside from what?

3. How old does the prisoner in the next cell to Khalid’s tell him he is in Chapter 11?

4. What illness does the fellow prisoner say he’d contracted at the time that he was arrested at the border in Chapter 8?

5. What is the name of the woman who comes to question Khalid in Chapter 6 and is described as being about thirty-five, with straight brown hair?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Khalid doing when his character is introduced in Chapter 1? What worry concerns Khalid in the opening of the novel?

2. Whom does Khalid meet at the new Indian grocery near his home in Chapter 2? What does this character warn Khalid about?

3. What does Khalid recall from a classroom conversation about the Spanish Inquisition in Chapter 15?

4. How does the author illustrate Khalid’s psychological deterioration in Chapter 13?

5. What does Khalid think about during his flight in the beginning of Chapter 3?

6. What are some of the examples of films, books, etc. that Anna Perera used as research in developing the story of Guantanamo Boy, according to the Author’s Note?

7. Whom does Khalid meet after being taken to the showers in Chapter 11?

8. What does the first interrogator ask Khalid in Chapter 6? How does Khalid respond?

9. How is the process of waterboarding described in Chapter 14? How does Khalid respond to this torture?

10. What does Khalid consider about his own situation after speaking with the fellow prisoner in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the character of Khalid Ahmed as the protagonist of the novel. Where does Khalid live when the story begins? How old is he? How does the author’s use of language inform you about the character? How does Khalid's character evolve in the course of the story?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the history and traditions of Ramadan and the symbolism of the jinn within Arabic literature and religion. What do the jinn look like? Why do you think these mythological creatures appear to Khalid in Chapter 19? Do they bring Khalid peace or anxiety? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Masud Al-Dossadi in the narrative. What are Khalid’s impressions of Masud? In what ways does Khalid admire this character? How does Khalid compare his situation to that of Masud?

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