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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. In the extended metaphor of the play, who is the audience?

2. Azari talks to a publisher who is proud of being able to publish a poem with what word in it?

3. What time does Razak begin work every day?

4. Who leads the progressive factions after the revolution?

5. What "psychological aspect" of revolution does Kapuscinski stress?

Short Essay Questions

1. What anecdote does Kapuscinski share about the Persian carpet salesman, and what is this salesman's message?

2. Describe the paranoid fit that Azari suffers.

3. Who is Mahmud Azari? What is the background of Mahmud Azari?

4. Why is Azari shocked when he returns to Teheran for the first time in eight years?

5. How does the local newspaper respond to the events surrounding Azari's beating?

6. Explain the pre-revolution events involving a) a wild horse, b) a university, and c) a riot in Qom.

7. Why does Kapuscinski feels that Shah blundered in his response to unrest prior to the revolution?

8. What does Azari learn about his brother once he returns to Iran in 1977?

9. What is significant about the trip Kapuscinski makes in December 1978?

10. What "two camps" does the Iranian revolution divide itself into?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the concept of "literary reportage" and why Kapuscinski's work might be said to be written in that style. What about the style, structure, content, etc., of Shah of Shahs lends itself to literary reportage? To what extent does Kapuscinski involve himself in his own work?

Essay Topic 2

Kapuscinski devotes many pages of the book to the root causes of revolution and the nature of revolution.

1) What are the traditional causes of revolution, and why does Kapuscinski reject these as causes for the Iranian Revolution? What does Kapuscinski believe is the true cause of revolution?

2) Why does Kapuscinski refer to revolution as a "drama"?

3) Describe the two types of revolutions Kapuscinski defines.

Essay Topic 3

Who were the "Petro-Bourgeoisie," and why did Kapuscinski create that term? How was the rise of the petro-bourgeoisie at least partially responsible for the Iranian revolution?

(see the answer keys)

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