Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Introduction & Author’s Note, & Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. For what anniversary of the book is the Introduction written?

2. In the Author’s Note, what subject does Mawi indicate that he mostly leaves out of the book?

3. What method of transportation does Mawi and his family use to get from Ethiopia to Sudan?

4. What is the name of the city where Mawi’s family make their temporary home in Sudan after fleeing Ethiopia?

Multiple Choice

1. What US-based organization is key in helping to relocate Mawi’s family from Sudan to America?

A) the Red Cross

B) World Relief

C) the United Nations

D) the Salvation Army

2. What is an example of the type of question asked in the examination Mawi’s family took prior to moving to America?

A) “Who was the 3rd president of the United States?”

B) “At what age may a US citizen be elected President?”

C) “Why do you want to go to America?”

D) “What are the names of the 50 states in alphabetical order?”

3. In what year does Mawi’s family leave Sudan for the United States?

A) 1980

B) 1981

C) 1982

D) 1983

4. Who is the youngest member of Mawi’s family?

A) Mehret

B) Tewolde

C) Mawi

D) Mulu

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What unexpected discovery prevents Mawi’s family from initially leaving Sudan for the United States?

2. What are some of the key theme ideas in the first section of the book, as evidenced by the anecdote in Chapter 2 where Mawi witnesses a bully stealing food?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. In what city did Mawi’s family spend their first night in America?

2. What religious organization serves as Mawi’s family’s sponsor in America?

3. What highway does Haileab lead his family down, on a walk from their temporary housing at a motel in Chapter 4?

4. What is Haileab’s first job in America?

Multiple Choice

1. In Chapter 5, Haileab tells his children a religious fable about angels and beetles. What is the primary moral of the story?

A) Always praise God, the one true higher power.

B) Treat strangers kindly, even the most destitute and downtrodden.

C) Love all animals, because they are God’s creatures.

D) Honor your mother and father, since they are the ones who gave you life.

2. What unexpected visitor from the neighborhood does Haileab invite into the family home in Wheaton?

A) a homeless man

B) a drug addict

C) a single mother

D) a street performer

3. What is the name of the local college student who often looks after the children of the Asgedom family?

A) Martha

B) Margie

C) Marlene

D) Martina

4. Starting as early as elementary school, what lesson about education does Haileab impress upon his children?

A) that they must always obey their teachers

B) that they must join as many extracurricular activities as possible

C) that they must perform well in school, getting the highest grades possible

D) that they must seek education in the world around them, not just in books

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Chapter 6 called “Playground Warfare”?

2. Why does Haileab tell the boys to accept the violent bullying inflicted upon them?

3. Why does Tewolde make up stories for Mawi about five brothers who are experts in martial arts?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does Hoyo Hoyo celebrate?

2. What is Mawi’s favorite American holiday?

3. In Chapter 7, Mawi recalls a memory from childhood where he, Tewolde, and a group of neighborhood kids vandalize an object. What is the object?

4. What does the habesha phrase “libee migbar” mean?

Multiple Choice

1. Where does Tewolde meet a homeless man, whom he eventually helps to secure housing and a job?

A) outside the Wheaton police station

B) outside the Wheaton fire house

C) under a bridge in downtown Wheaton

D) outside the Wheaton Public Library

2. What is Tewolde’s cleaning service company called?

A) ProClean

B) CleanCo

C) DeepClean

D) SpeedyClean

3. In what year of high school was Tewolde when he was killed by a drunk driver?

A) freshman

B) sophomore

C) junior

D) senior

4. After Tewolde passes, Mawi discovers that Tewolde had been sponsoring a child. In what region does the child live?

A) South Africa

B) East Asia

C) South America

D) Southeast Asia

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. To what does “coffee tales” refer in Chapter 9?

2. Why was Haileab targeted by the dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam?

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. What character is the main focus of Chapter 10 (“The Making of a Man”)?

2. Where was Haileab born, and who raised him when he was orphaned?

3. To what vices did Haileab succumb as a teenager when he first moved to Tigray?

4. What kind of government examination did Haileab miraculously pass, despite having never been to school?

Multiple Choice

1. As a doctor, what is Haileab most known for?

A) his masterful knowledge of infectious diseases

B) his skilled precision in surgery

C) his extreme devotion to patients

D) his state-of-the-art facilities

2. To what literary work does Chapter 11 (“The Unmaking of a Man”) pay homage in its composition?

A) The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

B) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

C) The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

D) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

3. What ailment prevents Haileab from being able to work?

A) His vision begins failing.

B) He develops osteoporosis.

C) He breaks his wrist.

D) His blood pressure becomes too high.

4. To what city does Mawi’s family move after Haileab loses his job?  

A) Evanston

B) Marian Park

C) Springfield

D) Rockford

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Mawi recount the anecdotes about Haileab telling geetme at habesha community conventions in Chicago?

2. Why does Mawi decide to take the most advanced courses possible, after the death of Tewolde?

3. In what way do Mawi’s studies honor his brother Tewolde?

Chapters 13-14, Epilogue, Afterword, & Bonus Material

Reading Check

1. What momentous day is the focus of Chapter 13 (“Father Haileab”)?

2. What is the tragic way that Haileab dies?

3. What does the Tigrinya expression Izgihare yihabkoom mean?

4. What momentous day is the focus of Chapter 14 (“Izgihare Yihabkoom”)?

Multiple Choice

1. Mawi acknowledges that formal education from teachers is important in Chapter 14, but who else teaches Mawi?

A) the homeless

B) refugees

C)  the poor

D)    the infirm

2. What oration is transcribed in the Epilogue?

A) Mawi’s last phone conversation with Haileab

B) Mawi’s interview with the United Nations

C) Mawi’s commencement speech from Harvard University

D) Mawi’s “coffee talk” with his mother

3. The Afterword describes Mawi’s personal and professional milestones since publishing Of Beetles and Angels. What is the main idea behind these accomplishments?

A) helping others and giving back

B) using any means necessary to get what you want

C) money as the most important thing

D) family first and above all others

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. One piece of the “Bonus Material” includes a philanthropic guide written by Mawi on how to help marginalized people. How does that fit with the overall message of the book?

2. What is one reason Mawi might use Tigrinya language as the chapter heading in Chapter 14?