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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 happens to halt the song being sung by the occupants of Isabel's boat?

2. When a boy offers to show Mahmoud and his family somewhere they can sleep, how much money does he charge them for the information?

3. What does Ivan want to be when he grows up?

4. What is Josef's father's profession at the start of the novel?

5. In what year does Isabel's narrative from Havana, Cuba begin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about Josef's feelings following his bar mitzvah?

2. Why do Josef and the other kids on the ship tour become uneasy when they hear some members of the crew singing "The Horst Wessel Song" (95)?

3. Why does Mahmoud's family choose Germany as a place to run to when they leave Syria?

4. Of everyone in Mahmoud's family, who comes the closest to losing his or her life when the apartment is hit by a missile?

5. How does Josef view the difference between life on the ship above decks and life on the ship below decks?

6. How is the the ship Josef's family boards shown by the author to be paradoxical?

7. What U.S. policies change and make it harder for Cuban people to seek refuge in the United States?

8. How does the author go about portraying Mahmoud as an empathetic soul?

9. What event is just about to happen when the motor of Isabel's family's boat splutters and dies?

10. List some of Isabel's and the other boat passengers' expectations of what life will be like in America.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look carefully at the passages of the novel that describe the close relationship between Mahmoud and Waleed. What is the author's purpose for discussing at length the nature of these two siblings' connection?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the author goes about building the readers' compassion for the refugees featured in the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

Write a critical essay about the novel while using the critical power theory lens of Marxist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of issues such as class, socioeconomic status, and humanitarian aid.

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This section contains 1,181 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample