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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 doesn't Kathy burn down the house as she had intended?

2. How does Lester feel about his wife?

3. Why is Nadereh angry with Behrani after he forces Kathy to leave?

4. Why doesn't Kathy take a shower while she waits for Lester?

5. What crimes is Kathy charged with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Connie Walsh's planned defense for Kathy?

2. Although Lester believes Behrani's story, he becomes angry again when Behrani describes Kathy as "drunk." Behrani is angry at Lester when he sees him studying his photo with the shah. How are these two moments similar?

3. Lester becomes suspicious of Esmail. What causes this reaction?

4. How do Behrani's feelings change when he finds Kathy in the car in his driveway?

5. What is nazr?

6. Why does Lester decide that the Behranis have harmed Kathy when he returns to the house and looks in through the window?

7. Nadereh berates Behrani while he repairs her mother's table, but he lets her insults "pass over like training jets with no ammunition." Why doesn't he respond to her tirade, and what does she finally say that causes him to enter the argument?

8. When Nadereh told Lester that her husband was "only good," Behrani believed that she had a different meaning than a positive comment on his character. What does Behrani believe Nadereh meant?

9. Kathy says that she only has one hope now while she's waiting for Lester to return. What does she hope?

10. Kathy doesn't shower because she doesn't want to clean up, then put on again the clothes she has stolen. How is this a metaphor for her situation now?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lester's past has a strong effect on actions he believes he must take now. What happens in his younger days that skews his view of the world now? What is he trying to prove and why does he feel he must prove something? Support your idea with quotations from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Main characters in this story reach a point where each feels that he is through with lies and deception. Analyze the importance of deception in this story. What does each of the men pretend to be that he is not? What do you think Dubus is trying to teach us about lies?

Essay Topic 3

The gun is an important symbol in this story. Those who are holding it sometimes feel stronger when they have it, sometimes weaker, as if it is a burden. In your essay, track the path of the gun from hand to hand, with the effect that it has on each person who carries it. Start with this thought: Do you think it is unusual that Lester would leave his gun with Kathy? Do policemen do such things under normal circumstances? What do you make of that occurrence?

(see the answer keys)

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