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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. When did Ronald Ross, the Scottish doctor, who set out to eradicate malaria, arrive in Cyprus?

2. In "The Hidden," why does Ada go to bed early the evening her aunt left?

3. What trees is Kostas studying to see if they can help the loss of biodiversity across the Mediterranean?

4. What is Defne's occupation when Kostas looks for her in "A Thousand Thorns"?

5. How long after Ada is born does Defne decide to go back to working for the Committee on MIssing Persons?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Kostas' study like?

2. Why is the work that Defne and her team are doing a race against time?

3. How did Defne try to terminate her pregnancy?

4. How does Kostas take a cutting of the tree, and how does he care for it?

5. Why does Dr. Norman agree to give Defne an abortion?

6. What does the fig tree learn about a military cemetery from a butterfly?

7. In "Remains of Love," what does Defne show Kostas that they found and what does she say regarding how they found it?

8. How do Kostas and Defne view human suffering?

9. How and why did Defne transmute into a tree?

10. How does Kostas arrive in Northern Cyprus in the early 2000s, and how does he feel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An allusion is a figure of speech that does not directly refer to a person, place, or thing. What are some allusions in The Island of Missing Trees? Why might it be difficult to decipher an allusion just by the context of a passage in a book? How do the allusions Shafak uses help readers’ understanding of characters or concepts?

Essay Topic 2

Cyprus is divided between Greeks and Turks and Christians and Muslims. How does the conflict in Cyprus affect characters? How do ethnicity and religion cause violence and loss?

Essay Topic 3

Defne decided to have her baby. How and why did that decision cause shame for her family, especially her father?

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This section contains 976 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample