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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 meanings associates with Seema’s name?

2. On which of the following does Leigh have a celebrity crush?

3. For which of the following has Seema written?

4. To which of the following does Seema compare Bill?

5. Which of the following does Tahera smell in her favorite curry?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reason does Tahera refuse to eat the chicken served on the day she arrives in San Francisco?

2. What reason does Seema posit that Nafeesa cooks for her and Tahera, despite her imprecations?

3. For what purposes does Imam Zia seek to develop the area surrounding his mosque?

4. Why does Seema note she and Tahera used to walk to school hand in hand?

5. To what does Naeemullah ascribe his desire to wed Nafeesa?

6. As what does Tahera gloss “Bismallah wa’ala barakatillah” (17)?

7. What rumors about Seema does Leigh uncover before meeting her?

8. What reasons does Seema have for lying long abed the morning after Tahera arrives in San Francisco?

9. Tahera rebukes herself for a thought she has on the evening she arrives in San Francisco; what is that thought?

10. Why does Ishraaq’s face not appear on the ultrasound taken during Seema’s prenatal appointment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

Essay Topic 2

Consider the ending of the novel. Does it satisfy? How or how not?

Essay Topic 3

To what other writer’s work in your experience does Ahmed’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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