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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 is one of the first things volunteers give the refugees?

2. Who is Emma romantically partnered with in Part I?

3. Where was Mina born?

4. What does the unnamed writer say when a reader asks what his biggest losses from the worst years of the AIDS crisis were?

5. What did the writer produce essays about in 2012 and 2013?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Mina's being a woman significant in her work as a doctor with the refugees?

2. Who was the only person Mina ever talked about her family with and why?

3. In "How to Become a Westerner," how does Rania Kassem find herself again?

4. In "Here Comes the Boat," why does Mina think the old woman is so mean to her adult son?

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

6. In "You Made Me Do It," who encourages Mina to write about her experiences and why?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Mina's alienation from her own family, except for her brother Mazen, affect her interactions and her ability to connect with the refugees she encounters on Lesbos? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What does Mina's affection for Pete Jones, and for his personal life story, decisions, and journey, tell the reader about the human search for meaning and purpose in an unforgiving and brutal landscape? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Alameddine treat the topic of empathy throughout the novel? Why do you think Alameddine has the unnamed writer proclaim that empathy is overrated? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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