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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 countries is represented among the medical students who observe the narrator’s treatment for syphilis?

2. On what road does the narrator report his car breaking down?

3. What High Renaissance artist does the narrator invoke when describing “the expression [he] saw on Asha’s face [as] one of tenderness” (193)?

4. In what month does the narrator report his car breaking down?

5. What kind of pencil does the narrator report using for his initial dream exercise?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the university dean on Rind’s foundation board oppose the narrator joining said board?

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. How does the narrator describe Mariam Meriha (137)?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the end, who is the protagonist of the novel—that is, who is the novel really about, Ayad or Sikander? What in the text tells you so? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator asks about his mother “In expecting what she couldn’t give me, hadn’t I rejected what she could” (219)? Is the answer “yes” or “no?” What in the novel indicates the answer? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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