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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 does Francine once do with people on the street who ask for money in Chicago?

2. What classification of his work does the unnamed writer say embarrasses him?

3. Who did smugglers buy a lot of wooden boats from before Emma arrived?

4. Why does seeing the writer frightened and battered in Moria feel disorienting to Mina?

5. Who does Emma see the writer talking to, as she tells it to Mina in Part I?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mina remember her mother spending a lot of extra money on when she was a child?

2. In "Here Comes the Boat," why is Mina so concerned about Sumaiya?

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

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

5. In "Doctors in Drag," why does the family ask Mina if she is a man?

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

9. What does the writer write about in "How to Make Liberace Jealous"?

10. Whose betrayal hurt Mina more than that of her parents?

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

When and how does Alameddine reveal the unnamed writer's deeply conflicted feelings about his work and about covering the refugee crisis? 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.

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