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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. About how much does the Turkish mafia charge refugees for the passage of each person?

2. What upsets Sumaiya about the journalists' questions?

3. What does the unnamed writer want to know from Nikolaos about a mass drowning incident his ancestors were involved in?

4. What request does Asma make to Mina regarding their correspondence in Part IV?

5. What do Mazen and Mina use as children to form their blood pact?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Rasheed help two Iraqi gay men get settled in Europe?

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

3. What does Rasheed say Mina should wear so the women in the refugee camp will trust her more?

4. What is the jewel in the dream house the writer's father built in Lebanon?

5. Why does Sammy tell the journalists they finally left Syria?

6. How did Mazen first begin reestablishing contact with Mina after some years of estrangement?

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

8. What happened to Linda Abdullah's father at the end of his life?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

What do you think Alameddine is trying to communicate to the reader through Francine's suggestion to the unnamed writer at the end of the novel that he write a novel about suburban Americans that refugees might read and enjoy? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 758 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample