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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 was one of the unnamed writer's favorite books from his youth?

2. Where was a famous burial site in Iraq Mina references in Part IV?

3. What kind of mess does Mina think that Lesbos is when she arrives?

4. Where does Mina meet Mazen in Part III for the first time?

5. What piece of jewelry does Mina not have as a child but end up buying for herself as an adult?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens in Cologne on New Year's Eve that impacts Europe's attitudes towards refugees?

2. What does Mina really think of the man who says he worked for a jewler?

3. In Part III, how does Mina's mother react after the car accident in her childhood?

4. What particular topic does Mina remember Francine having written about in 2009?

5. What does the scent of cardamom mean to Mina and the writer?

6. What is the relationship between Sammy and Sumaiya like?

7. What can Mina not help thinking about women from Deir-ez-Zor?

8. How does Mina's and Mazen's blood pact work?

9. Why does Mazen get so mad at the western journalists' questioning of Sammy and Samaiya?

10. In Part IV, what does Mina realize about the economic situations of the refugees she sees in the camps?

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 are some major differences between Mina's observations and interactions with refugees and those of the Europeans' interactions and observations with refugees? Why do you think Alameddine draws a distinction between the two? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think Alameddine is trying to reveal to the reader at the many points in the novel in which he points out Western - and particularly American - apathy towards refugees from other parts of the world, especially the Middle East? 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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