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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 Deja's proposed solution for answering her question about how a plane could make a whole tower fall down?

2. Sabeen says that since 9/11, her Uncle Ahmet always gets held at the airport when he tries to fly home to what country?

3. What does Deja decide Ray needs above all else?

4. Deja laments the fact that if she goes to a new school as Pop wishes, her circle of friends will do what?

5. What action does Pop demand be taken when Deja says that the school is teaching her about 9/11?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Deja process the sight of people falling and leaping out of the windows of the Twin Towers on 9/11?

2. How does Ben feel about his new home of New York City in relation to his previous home of Arizona?

3. What is the symbolism of mourning doves within the narrative?

4. What is demonstrated about Deja's character arc when she says, "I feel like I've passed the biggest test. Just by being me" (114)?

5. What does the baklava symbolize within the narrative when Deja gives a container of it to a homeless man?

6. What makes Ben a good choice of partner when Deja needs someone to go with her to the 9/11 Memorial?

7. How does being friends with Sabeen and Ben change Deja's negative outlook on her own life?

8. How is the novel's motif of sound depicted within the scene when Deja watches the video of a plane hitting the first Twin Tower?

9. What is the symbolism of Deja's father's briefcase?

10. What is the symbolism of the Avalon Family Shelter's pancakes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of Jewell Parker Rhodes's novel Towers Falling and one of the novel's main messages. How does the author make connections between these elements and how does their juxtaposition help the author get across one main message of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

What is the function of Miss Garcia's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by the author in depicting Miss Garcia and include in your discussion the reasons that the author portrays this character in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 3

How might Towers Falling be classified as a coming-of-age story?

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