View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator remarks that despite the number of dead bodies Mahmoud has seen, the experience of "seeing death" (180) never stops being what?

2. What does Ivan's brother Luis do just before Ivan's body is buried at sea?

3. What words does Josef's father scream throughout his rescue from the ocean?

4. When Isabel's boat is sinking and all the passengers are bailing furiously, what kind of craft approaches them suddenly?

5. Where does the Greek Coast Guard take Mahmoud and the other refugees at dawn once the boat is full of people?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Isabel mean when she thinks that "Fidel Castro has Ivan's blood all over him" (224)?

2. Though the narrator states that a few of the refugees Mahmoud sees when boarding the dinghy have backpacks or plastic bags, how are most of the refugees carrying their belongings?

3. How does Mahmoud save his infant sister Hana from drowning after the family's dinghy bursts upon the rocks?

4. What reason is given for why Isabel has never been to church?

5. How does Josef's mother's plan for getting a sleeping potion for her husband Aaron go awry?

6. When Isabel realizes that each part of the journey has been like the verse of a song, what results does she come up with when thinking of the various verses the song would include?

7. How do Mahmoud and his family reach the Serbian border on their journey fleeing Syria?

8. What reaction do the other passengers of the MS St. Louis have to Renata and Evelyne being allowed to leave the ship to join their father?

9. What happens to Mahmoud's family on the way from Belgrade to the Hungarian border?

10. What shocking detail does Mahmoud's father reveal to his family once they have been thrown into the water by their dinghy's destruction on the rocks?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the author's focus on the theme of cultural identity. What message is the author sending about cultural identity and how does the author get across this message to the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Trace the characterization arc of one of the three major characters in the novel. Discuss whether your chosen character is a round or flat character and whether your chosen character is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,127 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample