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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. Which character do Anna and Sharif plan to visit while in Europe?

2. Which character offers to help Amal with her community work?

3. Why does James Barrington turn down a diplomatic posting to Syria?

4. What does Anna remove on May 17th, 1901?

5. What odor does Isabel smell as she meets Umm Aya and Sheikh 'Isa?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Zeinab think of Anna?

2. What complications might arise with Anna and Sharif's marriage?

3. How does Anna's story affect Amal's future?

4. How does Amal react to Isabel's story about her experience at the shrine?

5. How does Anna's relationship with Layla and Sharif affect her relationship with other Britons living in Egypt?

6. Why does 'Omar refuse to continue his relationship with Isabel in Chapter 22?

7. How does Sharif's motivation and behavior change by Chapter 29?

8. How does Amal honor her ancestors once her research is complete?

9. According to Layla, what has been the net result of the political strife in Egypt?

10. How does the Zionist movement affect the Egyptian characters in the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Anna and Amal. What aspects of Anna are evident in Amal before she reads the journals? How does Amal's research into Anna's life affect her character?

Essay Topic 2

How does prejudice affect the characters in the novel? How does Anna's relationship with Layla and Sharif affect her relationship with other Europeans? How does having an English wife expose Sharif to prejudice? Does prejudice play a role in the lives of the characters living in 1997? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 3

What ironies are evident in the novel? What irony does Amal's family experience throughout the novel? What ironies are present in the "Entente cordiale" and subsequent political agreements? How is irony used to view the cycle of political and social/personal oppression suffered by the Egyptians?

(see the answer keys)

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