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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. What is Yasin's mother's name?

2. What is the name of the girl that is the foster daughter of the singer Zubayda?

3. What is Yasin on the prowl for in Chapter 12?

4. Who accompanies Amina to a mosque in Chapter 27?

5. Of what are Yasin and Fahmy afraid that Ahmad is mad at them for in Chapter 30?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Amina's mother described when she goes to stay with her during her exile?

2. What is Kamal doing after leaving school in Chapter 8?

3. How is Ahmad's daily ritual each morning described?

4. How is Yasin's meeting with his mother described in Chapter 18?

5. Why does Aisha stand alone at her window each morning?

6. What happens when Amina confesses leaving the house to visit the al-Husayn shrine to Ahmad?

7. What happens to Amina after her broken collarbone has healed?

8. What does Amina help her husband with when he comes home drunk at midnight every night?

9. How are Ahmad's actions at a party where he hires Zubayda to sing described?

10. How does the family react when Fahmy asks Amina to arrange his marriage to Maryam?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The underlying theme throughout the entire book has been Ahmad's tyranny over his family, with little explanation for what motivates his actions towards others.

Part 1.) What is Ahmad's nature based on his need to be a tyrant over his household?

Part 2.) How does Ahmad's tyranny parallel similar political actions going on in Egypt at the time?

Part 3.) Does Ahmad's ponderings after Fahmy's funeral suggest that he may have had a change of heart regarding his tyrannous treatment of his family?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the role fate plays in the lives of Ahmad's children who refuse to argue with his rules, especially about marriage. What is telling of Aisha based on her decision to leave being married up to fate?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the nature of the family coffee hour in the book. What is telling of the family's fear of Ahmad based on the openness of their coffee hour discussions?

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