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. What did the narrator feel like doing when he leaves Mustafa's house?

2. Why did the narrator visit his sister?

3. What did the narrator decide to do when he gets caught in something?

4. Where did the narrator go the day after he hears about Wad's marriage plans?

5. How did the narrator and his driver try to escape the heat of the sun?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the narrator left the village again after his conversations with Hosna and Mahjoub.

2. What did the narrator think about the people in the pictures?

3. What had happened to Hosna and Wad while the narrator was away from the village?

4. In pages 134-165, the narrator wonders what has happened to his world. Explain this feeling.

5. What did the narrator find in the triangular room and what did he do while in there?

6. Who met the narrator when he arrives by steamer, not too long after he had left, and what do they talk about?

7. Who did the narrator and his driver run into during the car trip and what happens?

8. What did the narrator do when he approaches the triangular room?

9. Where did the narrator go after leaving Mustafa's house and what happened there?

10. Give your opinion about the book and its two main characters.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Mustafa was a child, a man on horseback appeared. How does this event change Mustafa's life? How did he react to this man? What were the consequences? How did this man influence Mustafa? How was Mustafa different from the other children? Describe the meeting between the man on the horse and Mustafa and relate it to Mustafa's further childhood and adulthood.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, a lot of people talk about Mustafa to the narrator. Summarize the information the narrator collects about Mustafa. Who does the narrator meet that talks to him about Mustafa? In which circumstances does this happen? What does the narrator learn about Mustafa? What is being said? How does he react to this information? What is said about Mustafa that is contradictory with the narrator's information? Who, of all these people with information, actually met Mustafa in person? Why do you think all these people talk about Mustafa and praise him? How do you think the narrator feels about this?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,266 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample