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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. Why does Mazen give up his hotel room in Part IV?

2. What topic does Mina note that Francine once wrote a paper about in Part III?

3. What does the unnamed writer want to know from Nikolaos about a mass drowning incident his ancestors were involved in?

4. How do Francine and Mina first meet Lubna?

5. Who does Mina tell Asma she has lost and mourned?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the scent of cardamom mean to Mina and the writer?

2. What can Mina not help thinking about women from Deir-ez-Zor?

3. In Part III, how does Mina's mother react after the car accident in her childhood?

4. How did Mazen first begin reestablishing contact with Mina after some years of estrangement?

5. How did Rasheed help two Iraqi gay men get settled in Europe?

6. In Part IV, what does Mina realize about the economic situations of the refugees she sees in the camps?

7. What is the jewel in the dream house the writer's father built in Lebanon?

8. What does Mina really think of the man who says he worked for a jewler?

9. Who is Sumaiya most worried about in her family for after she dies?

10. Why does Mina want to buy a Jaguar in her midlife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Mina's affection for Pete Jones, and for his personal life story, decisions, and journey, tell the reader about the human search for meaning and purpose in an unforgiving and brutal landscape? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why is Mina's relationship with her brother Mazen so important to her, and to both of them? What specific details does Alameddine reveal to the reader about the siblings' relationship to help readers understand its centrality to Mina's character? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

What are some major differences between Mina's observations and interactions with refugees and those of the Europeans' interactions and observations with refugees? Why do you think Alameddine draws a distinction between the two? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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