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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 Kenan do when he flips the light switch out of habit and the lightbulb turns on?

2. About how far away are the soldiers that Arrow watches in Chapter One?

3. Filipovic tasks Arrow with protecting the cellist through the rest of his series of how many days of street performances?

4. Ismet and Kenan have been friends for over how many years?

5. Kenan's section in Chapter One comes to an end once he has taken what action?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Nermin Filipovic?

2. What does the tram symbolize in Kenan's memory of the siege's first day?

3. What is Sarajevo Roulette, according to Emina?

4. What is the significance of the 1984 Olympics according to Dragan?

5. What did the cellist used to do for a living before the Siege of Sarajevo began and what purpose did he see in his work?

6. What is the significance of Albinoni’s adagio from the cellist’s perspective and why?

7. What task must Kenan undertake every four days throughout the siege and why?

8. Discuss the meaning of the Leon Trotsky quote Galloway includes as an epigraph.

9. How does Arrow react to hearing the cellist's music for the first time in Chapter Two?

10. What does the reader learn about life in Sarajevo during the siege, in relation to electricity and water?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Galloway’s novel The Cellist of Sarajevo. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of courage portrayed in The Cellist of Sarajevo? Examine Galloway's treatment of and messages regarding courage throughout the book.

Essay Topic 3

What ultimate message is Galloway sending about the nature and value of compassion?

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