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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 offense is committed by Miriam Bernstein?

2. How is the second onslaught by the attackers better done than the first?

3. What will happen to Jacob Hausner if he stays concealed after the attackers have passed him?

4. Why does Jacob Hausner think he has been cursed rather than blessed when he escapes death again?

5. What information does Ahmed Rish refuse to give Jacob Hausner?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Miriam Bernstein believe the role of the scribe is so important?

2. What motives does Nathan Burg attribute to Jacob Hausner for wanting to stay behind when the aircraft left the mountaintop?

3. Why does Benjamin Dobkin have a sense of deja vu when he enters by the Ishtar Gate?

4. Why do Jacob Hausner and Nathan Burg conclude that the conduct of a war is too important to be left to politicians?

5. Why does Dr. Al-Thanni recommend that Joshua Giddel make no attempt to rescue Benjamin Dobkin?

6. To what do the prophet Jeremiah - and the author, Nelson DeMille - credit the successful freeing of the Babylonian captives?

7. What lesson has Salem Hamadi learned as he watches the way Ahmed Rish deals with the young Ashbals?

8. Why does Jacob Hausner think it is better for Miriam Bernstein to cry and howl when she is suffering pain and grief?

9. Why does Dr. Al-Thanni remind Joshua Giddel of Archimedes?

10. Why does Ahmed Rish have to wash his face and hands after his interrogation of Deborah Gideon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The quotation of scriptural prophecies create the impression that DeMille wants readers to see the characters in this story as part of Biblical prophecy. In your essay, analyze whether these characters see themselves as part of a long history or as isolated participants in a single event, alone and unsupported in the larger world. Use quotations from the story to substantiate your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Certain characters in this story have elected to make a separate peace. Miriam Bernstein is initially committed to the idea of peace at any price. Abdel Majid Jabari and Ibrahim Arif have decided to become part of Israel, renouncing their Palestinian roots but still wearing the identifying kheffiyah. Dr. Al-Thanni continues working on his museum inventory in the midst of open warfare. In your essay, comment on the success of these efforts. Is it possible to live amid a conflict and not take sides? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The setting is critical to this story. In your essay, outline the cultural and political setting in which the characters find themselves. Consider the contrast between the tourists who will come later in the year to visit the site of the ancient Babylonian captivity and the characters who are themselves actually captive there.

(see the answer keys)

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