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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Armenian legend, what animal was Adam's first companion in the Garden of Eden?
(a) Snake.
(b) Musk ox.
(c) Tiger.
(d) Elk.

2. What Ginsberg poem did Balakian's mother want several copies of?
(a) Hum Bomb.
(b) Kaddish.
(c) Howl.
(d) Please Master.

3. What stock did grandmother recommend buying after she had a dream?
(a) AT&T.
(b) NBC.
(c) GE.
(d) IBM.

4. What was the name of the private school Balakian was made to attend for high school?
(a) Tanglewood.
(b) Marbury.
(c) Englewood.
(d) Lawrenceville.

5. What degree was Balakian's girlfriend working on when he visited her, instead of going to his grandmother's memorial service?
(a) Medical degree.
(b) MBA.
(c) Philosophy.
(d) Law degree.

Short Answer Questions

1. What instrument did Balakian's cousin Haigie play?

2. What is berek?

3. What color were the kitchen cabinets in the Balakian's new home in Tenafly?

4. Where did the Ottoman Turks originally come from?

5. What is the significance of Mt. Ararat?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the impact poetry had on Balakian during high school and how it connected to his family's silence about the genocide.

2. How did Balakian's mother differ from most of the other mothers on Crabtree Lane in Tenafly?

3. What was Balakian's reaction to the film, The Graduate?

4. How did Balakian's memorial poem for his grandmother reflect his Armenian past?

5. How did Balakian react to seeing his father perform emergency medical care to the heart attack victim at the football game?

6. Why were books so important to Balakian's Aunt Nona?

7. How did Balakian's family's obsession with style reflect their history?

8. How did Balakian's grandmother continue to affect him even after her death?

9. When the Balakian family was preparing to move to another town, what was the deeper significance of Balakian's mother's insistence that her son not get too attached to any one place?

10. How did Balakian's father's fear of germs, as well as other family member's obsession with health and safety, reflect their experiences during the genocide?

(see the answer keys)

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