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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. Where did Mustafa first see Isabella Seymour?

2. What did Mustafa cause to other young women?

3. Who was Mustafa's only relative?

4. What did Mustafa suffer from?

5. How many days following their introduction do the narrator and Mustafa have dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the narrator feel about being back in his old village after being gone for seven years?

2. What do you know about Mustafa's family and how did that affect him?

3. What did the narrator learn on the way back to the village by donkey?

4. How was Mustafa treated during his time in Cairo?

5. Which woman did Mustafa meet at a party in Chelsea and what happened to her?

6. What is being said about Western women during a conversation at the grandfather's house?

7. What did the narrator do after Mustafa told him his story?

8. What do you know about the narrator's grandfather as a person?

9. What do you know about the legendary flooding of the Nile described in the book?

10. How does the house of the narrator's grandfather look like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator's grandfather plays an important role in the narrator's life. Explain their relationship and use examples from the different chapters. What do you know about the grandfather? Where does he live? How does his house look like? What kind of a person is he? What do he and the narrator talk about? How do you know he is important to the narrator? Relate this importance to the narrator's memories and his experiences when visiting his village.

Essay Topic 2

Mustafa's widow Hosna and Wad Reyyes become a part of each other's lives. Describe their history together and how this influences other people. How do they become involved? Why? What does Wad want? What does Hosna want? What happens to the two people? What is their dramatic end a result from? How do the villagers react to the events? How does the narrator feel about the events? How does Mahjoub feel about the event? How does this event change the relationship between the narrator and his friend Mahjoub? Why does the narrator feel he indirectly killed Hosna?

Essay Topic 3

Mustafa suffered from wanderlust. How is this portrayed in the book? What does Mustafa do to fulfill this wanderlust? Where does he go? Why? What does he do there? Where does he finally end up? Is this the end of his wanderlust? Why do you think that? How is his wanderlust related to his disappearance? Compare or contrast Mustafa's wanderlust with what he wants for his sons. Use supporting evidence from the book. Relate this wanderlust to the narrator's perception of what happened to Mustafa.

(see the answer keys)

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