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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. Who made the wings to escape from the island where the Minotaur was born?

2. What does Mina want to try to convince Sumaiya to let her do early in Part III?

3. Where do Samaiya and her family move to in Part IV?

4. Who does Mina wait for in the hotel in the chapter titled "How to Rob an Armenian Jewelry Store"?

5. In Part IV, what does the old woman steal from a young volunteer?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What destroys the writer's family home in Lebanon eventually?

5. What incidents does the writer compare to the myth of Icarus?

6. Why does Mina want to buy a Jaguar in her midlife?

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

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

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

10. What does Mina know happened to Lesbos and the refugee situation there after she left?

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 complications about the motivations and goals of the aid workers on Lesbos does Alameddine reveal throughout the novel? What are some of the different and opposing perspectives different characters, including Emma, Rasheed, and Mina take about the aid workers? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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