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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. How old was Peter Balakian when his aunts began taking him on the house-viewing expeditions?
(a) Eight.
(b) Ten.
(c) Eleven.
(d) Five.

2. Whom did Saroyan consider his "rival"?
(a) Hemingway.
(b) Fitzgerald.
(c) O'Connor.
(d) Faulkner.

3. Where did the Ottoman Turks originally come from?
(a) Tibet.
(b) China.
(c) Mongolia.
(d) Nepal.

4. To which American writer did Balakian send his poems while at Bucknell College?
(a) Jack Kerouac.
(b) Allen Ginsberg.
(c) Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
(d) Robert Pirsig.

5. What was the name of the poet with whom Balakian started his journal?
(a) Jack Wheatcroft.
(b) Karl Shapiro.
(c) William Saroyan.
(d) Bruce Smith.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year did Roman Emperor Constantine turn Byzantium into the imperial residence?

2. What kind of food did Balakian's mother claim was not fresh at the French restaurant?

3. What baseball legend was Balakian reading about while he was sick with the measles?

4. To what town was Balakian taking his girlfriend when he refused to return home for his grandmother's memorial service?

5. In what year did Balakian's father save the man having the heart attack at a Columbia game?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Balakian and Auntie Anna argue about literature?

2. What was Balakian's reaction to the folktales his grandmother would frequently tell him?

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

4. Why was Balakian so unnerved by his grandmother's constant doting on him at family gatherings?

5. How did Balakian's mother's behavior at the restaurant in France reflect her cultured upbringing?

6. What did the phrase "the old country" mean to Balakian as a child?

7. Why did Balakian's father insist his son leave the public schools and attend a private school?

8. How did Balakian's family's attachment to food reflect their ancestors' history?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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