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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. Why was El Saadawi fired from her job in the 1970's?

2. Who did Firdaus meet by the river after escaping Bayoumi?

3. What instructions does Firdaus give El Saadawi at the start of Chapter 2?

4. How did Firdaus hide her fears?

5. What is El Saadawi's impression of prison?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Firdaus's relationship with her uncle when she lived with her parents?

2. How was Firdaus unlike the other prisoners?

3. What were Firdaus' instructions to El Saadawi and why?

4. Why is El-Saadawi interested in studying prison settings?

5. What happened when El Saadawi went to her car at the end of Chapter 1?

6. What was El Saadawi's initial meeting with Firdaus like?

7. Why did Firdaus' uncle not want to send her to the university? What did his wife suggest?

8. How did Firdaus feel about her upcoming marriage?

9. What happened at Firdaus' graduation ceremony? Why did she freeze?

10. Who is Bayoumi and how did he help and hurt Firdaus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the setting effect the reader's experience of the story? Does it matter that the story is set in another country? Describe the setting of the story and explain how it is intertwined with the plot.

Essay Topic 2

What is symbolism and how did El Saadawi use it in her book? Provide two examples of symbolism and what they mean to the story.

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of Firdaus' experience in the restaurant? How does she change after going there? Is it a positive or negative change?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 683 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample