Summer Reading Assignment for Middle East Studies
A Thousand Splendid Suns
By Khaled Hosseini
ISBN 978-1-59448-950-1
Answer the following questions as you read the book. These questions are due Thursday, September 1.
ANY LATE ASSIGMENT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Do NOT wait until the last minute to begin this assignment.
*Note: You may answer these questions in bullet point format – do not rewrite the question.
If you have any questions, send emails to [email protected]
Chapters 1 & 2
1. What does harami mean?
2. Who is Jalil?
3. How often does Mariam see Jalil?
4. How did Jalil and Nana meet?
5. How did Nana’s father react to her situation?
6. Nana had almost married once. What did her fiancé do for a living?
Chapters 3 & 4
7. Who delivered food to Nana and Mariam, and how?
8. How did Nana feel about most visitors to Gul Damam?
9. What was Mullah Faizullah’s role when he visited Mariam?
10. What did Mullah Faizullah open to reveal the words Allah and Akbar?
11. What did Jalil always wear when he visited Mariam?
12. What gift did Jalil bring for Mariam that Nana criticized?
Chapters 5 & 6
13. When Jalil didn’t show up to take Mariam to the movies, what did she do?
14. Where did Mariam spend the night when she was in Herat?
15. What did Mariam see in the upstairs window of Jalili’s house just as the driver was grabbing her?
16. What did Mariam see dangling from a tree when she returned to Gul Damam?
17. Where did Jalil say Mariam could stay?
18. Who came to visit Mariam at Jalil’s house?
Chapters 7 & 8
19. What is it that Jalil and his wives have gathered to tell Mariam?
20. How old is Rasheed?
21. How old is Mariam?
22. When Mariam returns to her room after hearing the news of her fate, what does she hear when the
door closes?
23. What color was Mariam’s dress when she met Rasheed?
Chapters 9 & 10
24. What had Rasheed put in the windowsill of Mariam’s room?
25. What woke Mariam every morning in Kabul?
26. What American president did Rasheed tell Mariam about?
27. What was Mariam going to do at the tandoor?
28. What was in the paper bag Rasheed brought home for Mariam?
Chapters 11 & 12
29. What treat did Rasheed buy Mariam when they went to town that she had never had before?
30. What gift did Rasheed buy Mariam?
31. How did the people of Kabul know when to break their fast?
32. Did Rasheed observe fasting during Ramadan?
33. What did Mariam find in Rasheed’s drawers (4 things)?
34. By the end of chapter 12, how was Mariam feeling about Rasheed?
Chapters 13 & 14
35. What did Rasheed say Mariam could do if the baby was a girl?
36. What did Rasheed buy for the baby?
37. What is a hamam?
38. What happened to the baby?
39. What did Maraim bury in the back yard?
Chapter 15
40. How many total miscarriages did Mariam have?
41. Fariba had a baby. Was it a boy or a girl?
42. What was Rasheed always mad at Mariam?
43. In Rasheed’s opinion, what was wrong with Mariam’s rice?
44. How did Rasheed “punish” Mariam?
Chapters 16 & 17
45. What color is Laila’s hair?
46. What country did Laila’s teacher think was the best country in the world?
47. What US president was reportedly helping the muhjahideen by sending them Stinger Missiles?
48. What did Khadim spray into Laila’s hair?
49. What was all over the walls in Fariba’s bedroom?
50. Where were Laila’s brothers?
Chapters 18 & 19
51. What had taken Tariq’s leg when he was only 5?
52. What had happened to Tariq’s hair?
53. Why had Tariq been go so long?
54. What did Tariq’s mother wear on her head?
55. What did Tariq do to Khadim?
56. What new did the visitor bring to Laila’s family?
Chapters 20 & 21
57. When Mammy said her prayers five times a day, what did she always ask God?
58. What is Laila worried her mother will do?
59. What does Babi take Laila and Tariq to see?
60. What does Babi say is dream is for when Afghanistan is liberated?
61. Why will this dream not come true?
Chapters 22 & 23
62. What did Laila’s mother hold over her head when they went to watch the Soviet convoys leaving
Kabul?
63. What was Tariq wearing?
64. What happened to Hasima?
65. How did Mammy respond when Najibullah surrendered in April, 1992?
66. What two things did Mammy notice about Laila that showed she was growing up?
67. What had Tariq started doing that Laila didn’t like?
Chapters 24 & 25
68. What was the whistling that could be heard all over Kabul?
69. What direction do Afghans face to pray and why?
70. What did Tariq buy that bothered Laila?
71. What unthinkable thing did Babi do because Kabul had become so unsafe?
72. What news did Tariq have to Laila?
73. What happened between Tariq and Laila after he told her his news?
Chapters 26 & 27
74. What happened that made Mammy finally agree to leave Kabul?
75. What did the dogs of Kabul often eat?
76. In her dream, where were Laila and Tariq?
77. Why did Babi have “the most painful task” when it came to packing to leave?
78. What was the last thing Laila saw after the missile hit her house?
Chapters 28 & 29
79. How was Tariq injured on his way to Peshawar?
80. Ultimately, what was the outcome of Tariq's injuries?
81. Why did Abdul Sharif not initially want to talk to Laila about Tariq?
82. What had Rasheed stopped doing to Mariam after Laila was taken in to their house?
83. What did Rasheed want from Laila?
84. How old was Rasheed and how old was Laila?
Chapters 30 & 31
85. How did Rasheed pay for Laila's wedding ring?
86. Why did Laila decide not to go to Pakistan after she found out Tariq was dead?
87. Why did Laila prick her finger after her first night with Rasheed?
88. What happened to Rasheed's new manners after he married Laila?
89. How did Rasheed compare Mariam and Laila?
90. What is 'one request' Rasheed has of Laila?
Chapters 32 & 33
91. What was Rasheed doing at the time his son drowned?
92. What did Mariam and Laila have their first real fight about?
93. What is the name of Laila's baby?
94. Why didn't Laila like the clothes she had for the baby?
95. How did Laila react when she saw that Rasheed was going to beat Mariam?
Chapters 34 & 35
96. What suspicion did Rasheed have of Laila and Tariq?
97. What had Laila been doing every week since Aziza was born?
98. Where did Laila keep it?
99. What did Laila want to do with it?
100.What did Mariam give Laila?
101.What nightly ritual did Mariam and Laila adopt?
Chapters 36 & 37
102.What did Laila and Mariam look for as soon as they got to the bus station?
103.What happened to Laila and Mariam at the bus station?
104.What did Rasheed do to Laila?
105.What did Rasheed do to Mariam?
106.What did Rasheed threaten to do if Laila and Mariam tried to run away again?
107.Who did Rasheed, Laila, and Mariam see hanging in the town square on the day the Taliban arrived
in Kabul?
Chapters 38 & 39
108.What happened to musicians after the Taliban came to power?
109.Where did Rasheed go on Fridays?
110.What did Rasheed threaten about Aziza?
111.What happened to Laila at the first hospital and why?
112.Why did the doctor have a nurse keeping watch as she operated?
113.What procedure did Laila undergo without anesthesia?
Chapters 40 & 41
114.How did Zalmai act when he was with Laila versus Rasheed?
115.What did Rasheed buy on the black market?
116.What did Rasheed suggest Aziza do to make money for the family?
117.Why did Mariam and Laila bury the TV?
118.What movie were the people of Kabul obsessed with in the summer of 2000?
119.Why did Rasheed and Mariam go to the Intercontinental Hotel?
Chapters 42 & 43
120.Why did the Taliban blow up the Buddhas in Baminyan?
121.Where was Aziza going?
122.Why did Laila need Rasheed to go to the orphanage?
123.What had Aziza begun doing regarding her speech while she was at the orphanage?
124.Who was Zalmi speaking to when he said, "Get away, you!"?
125.Who had been the doorman at the Intercontinental Hotel?
Chapters 44 & 45
126.What had Tariq's cell mate been publically flogged for?
127.Why had the Taliban objected to it and what did he do to remedy the situation?
128.Who is Alyona?
129.Why did Tariq end up in jail and how long did he spend there?
130.Who told Rasheed about Tariq?
131.What did Mariam do to Rasheed?
Chapters 46 & 47
132.What did Laila tell Zalmai about Rasheed?
133.What did Mariam say she would never be able to escape from, even if she ran away?
134.Why did most women continue to wear their burqas all day, even though they were in the women's
section of the prison?
135.What kind of food did the prison provide for the women?
136.What was the most common offense committed by the women in the prison?
137.How was Mariam killed?
Chapters 48, 49, & 50
138.What did Laila and Tariq do for a living?
139.How does Zalmai treat Tariq?
140.What do Laila and Tariq watch on the television in the hotel lobby?
141.What does Laila tell Tariq she wants to do that she fears he will not allow?
142.Why does she want this?
143.Where does the saying, "A thousand splendid sons" come from?
144.Why do many man in Afghanistan begin to grow their hair?
145.Where does Laila go when she returns to Afghanistan?
146.What does Hamza give Laila?
147.What was in it?
Chapter 51
148.What was shown, openly in public in Kabul, that the family went to see?
149.What did Aziza and Laila do together every morning?
150.What did Tariq do for work in Kabul?
151.What did Laila do for work in Kabul?
152.When they first returned to Kabul, what distressed Laila about Mariam?
153.What was Laila going to name her baby if it was a girl?