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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. Why does Nadereh call Behmani a chicken?

2. What is Kathy beginning to hope when Lester invites her to bring her things to the fish camp?

3. Why does Behrani believe that it is immigrants who excel in the United States?

4. Why has Behrani been worried that Nadereh would object to the widow's walk?

5. What bad news does Lester bring Kathy after he visits two more lawyers?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Behrani regret that he will soon sell the house?

2. What happens to Kathy's Enemy Voice the last time she spends time with a married man?

3. How is Kathy like Behrani in her outlook on life?

4. Why does Lester believe Behrani deserves to be punished by him?

5. Why does Behrani ask Kathy if she thinks he is stupid?

6. Why do you think Behrani has not been able to find work in the aerospace industry in spite of all his qualifications?

7. Why does Kathy feel superior to the everyday people she sees on the street?

8. Why does Behrani feel that Soraya is right to disrespect him when he notices her behavior during her homecoming party?

9. How does the letter from Connie Walsh change the way Behrani is feeling?

10. What is Kathy's intention in calling her brother Frank, and why doesn't she do as she intended?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Does your personal opinion about these characters change as the story progresses? Do you take sides? Do you feel that one is right and the other wrong, that both are wrong, or that both are victims of someone else's error? Using the notes you made in your notebook during the early days of reading this book, discuss the changes in your own impressions of the characters. If your feelings changed, tell why. If they did not change, tell why.

Essay Topic 2

Dubus has written a story with powerful themes. A theme is the author's main idea, or purpose in telling the tale. What do you believe Dubus is trying to teach us as his readers? Support your thesis with ideas or facts from the story.

Essay Topic 3

Events in Iran many years before the opening of this story shape the thinking of the characters in the present. The photo of Behrani with the shah is an important symbol in this story. In this essay, consider the effect of the photo on Nadereh, on Soraya, on Soraya's in-laws, on Lester, on Kathy, and on Behrani himself. Use quotations from the story in each instance.

(see the answer keys)

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