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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 did an Englishman visit Bilquis?

2. What did Bilquis feel as she prepared for the trip to the U.S.?

3. What did Aunt Amina call Bilquis' baptism?

4. How did Dr. Christy Wilson help Bilquis?

5. What did Mahmud say he would do if Bilquis died?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Bilquis explain to Mahmud that Christians can have great confidence in dangerous times?

2. What did Mahmud know about his grandmother Bilquis' Christianity?

3. Why did Ken Old tell Bilquis that she had reason to rejoice even while she is sad at their departure?

4. What were the negative and positive results of the Christmas party?

5. What came as a threat to Bilquis' precious afternoon rest?

6. What happened to Bilquis' family members who had been coming to visit her?

7. Why did Bilquis decide to leave a day earlier than she had intended to?

8. When Bilquis attended a second family funeral, what did the bereaved wife unexpectedly do?

9. Who did Bilquis decide to invite to her Christmas party?

10. What situation did Bilquis allow to make the decision about whether to travel to Singapore?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Often those who experience a religious conversion are seekers - people who have been unsatisfied with their way of life and are actively attempting to change. Was Bilquis such a person as the story begins? If not, what made her want to change? In your essay, explore the motives that compel Bilquis along the path to conversion.

Essay Topic 2

Bilquis tells of experiences, such as floating out the window and being shaken from her bed, that are outside normal human experience. In your essay, select one or two of these experiences and give your opinion of these supernatural events. How does she account for them?

Essay Topic 3

As Bilquis' story progresses, both she and the reader sense an impending doom that does not come to pass. She never learns what might have happened to her and Mahmud had she not hurried out of the country. In your essay, discuss this information gap. Is it disappointing to you? Why or why not?

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