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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 word Nima often uses to mean "father"?

2. What is one thing that Mama Fatheya says can call evil spirits out?

3. What happens at the airport in "The Airport"?

4. What does Aisha say when Nima asks why she still wears her headscarf?

5. What does Nima's best friend have to do at school in Part I?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mama Fatheya tell Nima about her own birth in "Calling Haitham"?

2. What happens in "The Airport" that Nima always remembers as hurting her mother deeply?

3. In "Videos," what embarrasses Nima terribly in front of her mother?

4. What does Nima use to imagine Aisha's life before she herself was born?

5. In "America," what does the girl who comes to Nima's apartment to work on a math project tell their peers at school?

6. What does Nima tell her mother is really wrong with her in "Ghosts"?

7. In "Jinn," what does Nima think Yasmeen has appeared to her for?

8. What is one major factor Haitham and Nima have in common?

9. In "School," why does Nima beg her mother to stop sending leftovers to school for her?

10. What does Nima think of her friendship with Haitham?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Nima's ability to visit the past as an observer begin to radically change her perceptions of her own family's history? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How and why are things so different between Nima and Aisha once Nima returns from her journey to the past? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Elhillo decided to write this novel in verse, choosing that structure over others? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 649 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample