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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 color are Meryem's suitcases?

2. How did the fig tree get to England?

3. When does Defne go looking for Kostas in "Definition of Love"?

4. In "Fig Tree," when was the last great cyclone?

5. In "Words Fly," what song is Kostas humming when he walks in The Happy Fig?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kostas begin to worry about Yusuf and Yiorgos during the heatwave?

2. What happened that summer when Archbishop Makarios was overthrown?

3. What is the fig tree feeling on page 20 and why?

4. How does the heatwave begin in May 1974, and how do people try to cope?

5. What place is set up for Kostas and Defne when they start meeting at the tavern?

6. When Defne is nearly caught by her uncle after meeting Kostas, where does Kostas suggest they meet?

7. What happened to The Happy Fig in May 1974?

8. In "Loneliness," what message does Ada get on her phone?

9. Who contacts the fig tree in the night on page 99, and why?

10. How does the fig tree compare how humans regard the death of cute animals and the death of the bats in Nicosia during the heat wave?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kostas and Ada are an example of a father-daughter relationship. How would you describe their relationship and how their relationship helps them deal with Defne’s death?

Essay Topic 2

Personification is a type of figurative language that assigns human characteristics to inanimate objects. How does Shafak use personification in The Island of Missing Trees? How does the use of personification assist readers in imagining scenes and objects?

Essay Topic 3

The Happy Fig is a popular tavern. How is the tavern a place where different groups of people can socialize together? How does it touch people’s lives?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample