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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 did Mina's mother spend all the spare money on when Mina was a child?

2. Which country became home to the largest number of Syrian refugees?

3. What does Francine remind Mina she is in Lesbos to do at the very end of Part II?

4. Where does Mina recall meeting the writer unofficially some years earlier?

5. How does Mina describe the sea in "Here Comes the Boat"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "You, the Nervous Wreck," what does Mina say is the influence of the writer's work on her decisions?

2. Who is Mina meeting from her family in Lesbos and why is this significant?

3. Why do Mina and Asma have a special affinity?

4. What does "GoFundMeJeff" do that becomes a symbol for being a scoundrel?

5. What is one of Emma's most defining characteristics, according to Mina?

6. Why has Emma asked Mina to come help on Lesbos?

7. In "Here Comes the Boat," what is Mina surprised to hear about some of the young volunteers?

8. In "I Missed You By This Much," what does Mina say about the writer?

9. In what way does Mina remember her mother loving herself and her siblings?

10. What does Mina buy for the children in "The Little Rascals Go to Camp" and how does this turn out?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Alameddine chooses for Mina, the narrator, to address the unnamed writer as "you" throughout the novel? How does this choice affect the reader's ability to connect with both Mina's and the writer's perspectives? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What do you think Alameddine is trying to communicate to the reader with the unnamed writer's panic in hiding in his hotel room for much of his time on Lesbos? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Mina become so emotionally involved with Sumaiya, and what does Alameddine reveal about the particularities of a doctor-patient relationship in a refugee setting through these two characters? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 645 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample