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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 words does Rind’s research indicate people in the United States associate with Islam (138)?

2. Near what water is the resort the narrator reports his parents visit?

3. What chemical does the narrator report in a footnote is found in the water of Zamzam?

4. Which of the following countries is represented among the medical students who observe the narrator’s treatment for syphilis?

5. How much are the narrator’s shares in Rind’s investment company worth when he sells them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What decorations are on the walls of the repair shop in Scranton?

2. What overall project does the narrator ascribe to Rind?

3. What reasons does the narrator give for the SEC investigation of Rind’s investment company?

4. What factors does the narrator cite as having broken him out of his wealth-induced laziness and indulgence?

5. Why does the narrator report being initially put at ease by the Pennsylvania state trooper who pulls him over?

6. What agencies does the narrator deny led to his wealth?

7. What features does the narrator initially ascribe to Rind that mark him as Pakistani, rather than Indian?

8. What comments does the narrator claim to expect to receive from his parents after leaving the repair shop in Scranton?

9. What does the narrator report as shocking in his review of the transcripts of proceedings against Rind’s investment company?

10. What is the dream technique the narrator reports having learned from Moroni?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the quote from Montaigne’s “Of Experience” the narrator presents: “I take it for true that dreams are honest reflections of our inclinations; but there is art to making sense of them” (104). What is meant by the quote? What from the narrator indicates that meaning? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the comment that “America had begun as a colony and that a colony it remained, that is, a place still defined by its plunder, where enrichment was paramount and civil order always an afterthought” (xiii). Is the definition of “colony” presented in the comment accurate? What in the novel and in experience indicates that it is / not? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

While conversing with the narrator, a Pennsylvania state trooper remarks that “when [one of the leaders of the 11 September 2001 attacks] returned his rental car on September ninth, he called the rental agency to tell them the oil light was on. Can you believe that? He didn’t care about the three thousand people they killed, but he cared about the next person driving the car” (93). What accounts for the disjunction? What in the book and in experience tells you that it does? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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