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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 Ahmad apply just before leaving the house with his sons each day?

2. What is the relationship between Fahmy and Yasin in the book?

3. Who has been standing at her bedroom window for months yearning for a young police officer that walks by?

4. What does Yasin tell his mother is the only way he will love her again when he visits her for the first time in the book?

5. Who are quarreling when Amina tells them she is leaving the house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of Khadija and Aisha's conversation regarding marriage in Chapter 5?

2. What happens when Amina confesses leaving the house to visit the al-Husayn shrine to Ahmad?

3. How does Yasin prowl for women in Chapter 12?

4. How is Amina injured on her way home from visiting the al-Husayn shrine?

5. How are Amina's duties on her roof described in Chapter 6?

6. How does Yasin remember his happy childhood ruined by a fruit merchant?

7. How does the family react to Ahmad's announcement that Aisha cannot marry in Chapter 26?

8. How are Ahmad's actions to those outside his household described?

9. How is Aisha's beauty regimine described in the book?

10. What does Fahmy do while sitting on a roof with Kamal in Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the nature of ritual in Ahmad's home. Why does Ahmad's family agree to perform the daily rituals and chores he demands of them?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the symbolism of author's use of religious and political figures in the book, notably Martyr al-Husayn and Sa'd Zaghlul. What tone might the author be trying to set to describe the impact these figures had on Egyptian culture?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of education in the book, especially in regards to Kamal. What impact could Fahmy's educating Kamal on his nationalist beliefs have on his own ideals later on?

(see the answer keys)

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