Tasting the Sky Study Guide
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Ibtisam
answer
Author of the Book
question
Souma
answer
Donkey Ibtisam had to leave behind in Jordan because she had to leave refugee camp
question
Zuraiq
answer
Ibtisams goat her dad killed for her brothers circumcision party
question
Basel
answer
Ibtisams brother
question
Muhammad
answer
Ibtisams brother
question
Maha
answer
Ibtisams Baby sister
question
Suleiman
answer
Ibtisams father
question
Mirriam
answer
Ibtisams Mother
question
Lilian
answer
Ibtisams first grade teacher
question
Alef
answer
The first letter of the alphabet ibtisam carries chalk in her pocket and calls her alef
question
Ramallah
answer
Where ibtisams family lived in Palestine
question
Jordan
answer
Where ibtisams family fled to during the 6 day war of 1967
question
Jericho
answer
Orphanage her brothers got sent to when they abbused a kid after he punched ibtisam (so ibtisam got seperated from her brothers)
question
Jerusalem
answer
Where most of ibtisams family lives like her grandparents aunts and uncles etc
question
Jalazone School
answer
Ibtisams School until she moved to her new house
question
Why is this novel titled Tasting The Sky? What about the subtitle a Palestinian Childhood, according to this book?
answer
The novel is titled Tasting The Sky because Ibtisam wants to have Freedom and live her life. The subtitle a Palestinian Childhood she just describes her childhood with a war in the background
question
Why does Ibtisam divide the novel up into three parts? What does one part talk about?
answer
She divides up the novel into three parts to describe part 1 & 3 which is her in adulthood and part 2 is a flashback from when she was a child
question
Discuss the names of each section in the novel. Why does she name the sections what she does?
answer
She names the sections what she does because a letter to no one (part 1 ) was just no one she knows just her penpals which she doesn't really know. A postal box of memory (part 2) which was just about her childhood so it is a box of memories A letter to everybody (Part 3) was just letters to all her penpals so a letter to everybody
question
Why did Ibtisam's family flee Ramallah at the beginning of the novel?
answer
Because of the War of 1967
question
How long did the war of 1967 last?
answer
6 Days
question
What is Ibtisams relationship with her father like?
answer
She loves him and when she was little she was inseparable from her father; when she grows up she comforts her father when he has nightmares about the war
question
Where does the family go after they flee Ramallah? How do they get there?
answer
Jordan, and Ibtisams Father stops a random truck by force and forces his family on the truck/car
question
What is the significance of Alef? What/Who is Alef, and why does she keep referring to it throughout the novel?
answer
Alef is the first letter of the arabic alphabet and Ibtisam pretends a piece of chalk is also alef she keeps referring to it throughout the novel because it was kind of like her first friend in a way and she would always carry it around in her pocket
question
Who is Souma and what happens to them?
answer
Souma is the pet donkey Ibtisam found in the basement of the refugee camp and she had to leave him behind in the refugee camp when she went to live in Hamameh house
question
What is the condition of their home when they returned from the Refugee Camp?
answer
Bullet Holes through some of their stuff and in the bedframe of where they sleep
question
Why did Ibtisam and her brothers end up in an orphanage?
answer
Their home was unsafe and their mom wanted to study and take classes while working in orphanage . They has to say that Ibtisams dad died in the war in order to be let into the orphanage
question
What are the Barakats experiences like in an orphanage?
answer
They are all separated. Ibtisams brothers are causing trouble as usual and are sent to an orphanage in Jericho. Which they kind of like. Her mom working. Her sister with the toddlers. Ibtisam with the preschoolers. Ibtisam doesn't like that she is separated from her family.
question
Why is Ibtisam separated from her brothers? Where did they go?
answer
Ibtisams brothers were sent to a orphanage in Jericho called Al- Bir's Society. Her brothers were sent because they beat up a boy for punching Ibtisam in the nose and making her bleed.
question
What are Ibtisam and her brother's experiences in school?
answer
Ibtisam- She is a very good student she is like the teachers pet and when she is done with her work the teacher lets her walk around the room and help other students with their work. She is the best (first) in her class. Her brothers- They are always getting hit and they are always causing trouble. They are always looking at boys when they get hit whether they cry or make ugly faces while getting hit.
question
Who is Zuraiq and what is significant about him? What happens to him?
answer
Zuraiq is Ibtisams pet goat and what is important about him is that Ibtisam got him when he was a baby and she loved him very much and he was like family. Then her father killed the goat to cook for her brothers Circumcision party
question
Why does the family move at the end of the novel? What are Ibtisams feelings toward this?
answer
Ibtisams mom was sexually assaulted by Israeli soilders, and soilders kept knocking and banging on the window. They threatened Ibtisams mom and she decided that they have to move. Ibtisam feels very sad and she doesn't want to leave the home she grew up in but she knows she has to
question
What is the overall point of this novel? Why would Barakat choose to write this?
answer
To explain a Palestinian Childhood and what it feels like to grow up during a war but the author didn't focus a lot on the war she focused more on her childhood
question
What are the stories Ibtisam chooses to tell about her childhood? Why would she tell these stories and what do they have to do with the war in Palestine?
answer
The Chapter "Return" because it had to do with Ibtisam returning to her home after the 6-day war of 1967. This has to do with war because Ibtisam and her family returned from Jordan after a war had occurred.
question
What is the significant about the fact that a lot of stories about her childhood do not focus on the war?
answer
She doesn't like to talk about war more about her Palestinian childhood instead. Also her mom is always telling her forget just forget when she is an adult
