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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 Zahra think of her sister?

2. Who was to blame for the one sister's divorce?

3. What is the visitor's real profession?

4. What does the state official offer his acquaintance?

5. Where is Aziz's childhood home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Zahra's wool spinning business?

2. Describe two ways the old man helps the sisters in "House in the Woods"?

3. Who is the surprise guest in "A Vacation" and how does Roukia react to the visitor?

4. What do the husbands discover about visitor at the end of the story?

5. Describe the life of the woman in "Out of Work" after she left her job.

6. Describe Zahra's experience with the fortune-teller.

7. What offer does one man make to the other in "The Discontented" and what is the man's response to the offer?

8. How does Zahra's husband change when he receives his "caid"?

9. Why does the main character of "Divorce" leave his wife?

10. What do the sisters attempt to build the house out of in "House in the Woods"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the plot and subplot in "Dinner in the Black Market". Be sure to provide the definitions for both terms in your answer. How does Abu Zayd effectively keep the reader engaged without confusing them?

Essay Topic 2

How does the Moroccan independence movement affect the lives of the characters in Abu Zayd's book? Choose one character (other then Zahra) and discuss how the independence movement affects his or her life.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the interaction between the men in the story "The Discontented". How are the men different from one another? What occurs at the end of the story that sets the two men further apart?

(see the answer keys)

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