The Cellist of Sarajevo

Prologue

Reading Check

1. Civilians (Prologue)

2. The Sarajevo Opera Hall (Prologue)

3. Principal cellist in the Opera Hall (Prologue)

4. Albinoni’s Adagio (Prologue)

5. 22 days (Prologue)

Short Answer

1. The people who were killed were people he knows—friends and neighbors. (Prologue)

2. He decides to bring beauty and hope back to the people of Sarajevo. (Prologue)

Chapter 1, Sections 1-3

Reading Check

1. She’s an assassin/sniper. (Chapter 1, Section 1)

2. Steri Grad (Chapter 1, Section 2)

3. In Italy (Chapter 1, Section 3)

4. A bakery (Chapter 1, Section 3)

Short Answer

1. She wanted her new name to reflect her reputation as a killer. (Chapter 1, Section 1)

2. She believes they have stolen her happiness and her gratitude for life. (Chapter 1, Section 1)

3. She distances herself by her belief that her actions are more moral because she is not attacking the civilians of Sarajevo. (Chapter 1, Section 1)

4. Kenan means that he would rather suffer the pressures of everyday life than live in fear of the ongoing war around him. (Chapter 1, Section 2)

5. Dragan fears the time between being injured and how long his consciousness might last before he dies. (Chapter 1, Section 3)

Chapter 2, Sections 1-3

Reading Check

1. Sarajevo’s National Library (Chapter 2, Section 1)

2. She is shot. (Chapter 2, Section 2)

Short Answer

1. The citizens rarely have time to socialize, so they use their time filling their canteens to speak with one another. (Chapter 2, Section 1)

2. A mortar shell lands nearby, and many are injured. Kenan is shocked, begins to walk home, and berates himself as a coward because he did not try to help the wounded. (Chapter 2, Section 1)

3. Dragan describes people who escape Sarajevo as either rich or powerful. (Chapter 2, Section 2)

4. The cellist’s music inspires Emina to continue her work every day. (Chapter 2, Section 2)

5. Nermin tells Arrow an assassin has been sent to kill the cellist. Her mission is to keep the cellist alive. (Chapter 2, Section 3)

6. Perhaps the cellist’s solo inspired the sniper, and he had no desire to kill him. (Chapter 2, Section 3)

Chapter 3, Sections 1-5

Reading Check

1. An explosion in his office (Chapter 3, Section 2)

2. Colonel Edin Karaman (Chapter 3, Section 2)

3. An old civilian (Chapter 3, Section 4)

Short Answer

1. Emilia is only injured when the sniper shoots her. Dragan decides it is important to live rather than die and has decided to live as long as possible. (Chapter 3, Section 1)

2. Arrow begins to wonder whether her motives for killing have been good or bad and whether she is a good person still. (Chapter 3, Section 2)

3. Illicit market traders are getting rich off of the lack of available resources. There is price gouging for food and water. (Chapter 3, Section 3)

4. When regular citizens fail to act on behalf of one another and ignore the suffering around them (Chapter 3, Section 5)

Chapter 4, Sections 1-3

Reading Check

1. Hasan’s men (Chapter 4, Section 3)

2. Alisa (Chapter 4, Section 3)

Short Answer

1. Dragan decides to walk across the street rather than run. He also feels the pills he got from Emina, and the reader gets the impression he will deliver them rather than head straight to work. (Chapter 4, Section 2)

2. Arrow realizes she does not have to be filled with hatred and that the world still holds the capacity for goodness. (Chapter 4, Section 3)