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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 does a brave man wear in Chapter 4?

2. In Chapter 5, what does Saeed's father see young men playing with near his wife's grave?

3. In Chapter 5, who emerges from an interior service door?

4. In Chapter 4, who does Saeed's mother think she sees firing a machine gun from the back of a pickup truck?

5. What does Nadia fear will happen to her and to Saeed if they leave the city?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, when Saeed asks Nadia to coffee, how much fighting has the city seen where they live?

2. In Chapter 3 after the assault on the stock exchange, how do the militants change their strategy?

3. Where would Nadia and Saeed like to travel and why?

4. In Chapter 5, what things is Nadia able to get from her apartment?

5. In Chapter 5, where does Saeed's father go every day?

6. How did Saeed's parents meet?

7. In Chapter 3, what is said about the city getting telephone after independence?

8. In Chapter 4, how does Saeed try to find Nadia when the phones are shut off?

9. How is the place described where Saeed lives with his parents?

10. Why does Saeed's father not wish to go with Nadia and Saeed when they leave?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses foreshadowing to provide hints to readers of events to come. What are some events that are foreshadowed in the novel? How does the foreshadowing affect suspense in the novel? How does it affect the storyline?

Essay Topic 2

When the militants first arrive, Saeed’s family’s apartment is a safe place from the violence of the streets. How does the violence begin to affect the sanctity of the apartment? How does the death of Saeed’s mother transform their place from sanctuary to place of danger? What does the change of the apartment from sanctuary to place of danger reveal about war and safe places?

Essay Topic 3

Conditions change in the city when war comes. How does war affect the city? How does the war affect society and the people who live in the city?

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