Forgotten Fire
Discussion Leader
Foreword
Discussion Leader
Summary:
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Armenia is between Europe and Asia
Throughout history-many invaders
Ottoman Empire (Muslim Turks) 16th century
By 1900s Muslim Turks Considered Armenian Christians
inferior and a threat to government’s security
Muslim Turks feared Armenian oppression would draw
attention to European powers (weaken already weak
Ottoman Empire)
Turkish leaders gave more rights back in 1908-lasted two
years
Decided to remove threat of European interference
Destroyed non-Muslim minorities (massacres and
genocide)
Muslim superiority
Book told through the eyes of a twelve year old Armenian
Vocabulary
• Page x
• Massacre: mass murder
• Genocide: the deliberate extermination of
an entire group of people based on race,
religion, politics, etc.
• Holocaust: mostly referred to as the
systematic mass slaughter of European Jews
in Nazi concentration camps during WWII
(noun)/ mass slaughter and destruction of
life (by fire)
Characterization
• Page xi
• Based on the true story of one
child (Armenian)
Literary Terms
• Point of View: First Person
Passages
• Right before the foreword begins
• Adolf Hitler
• No one remembers the
extermination of people
Questions
• What does Hitler mean by this?
• Why is it so important to remember
tragedies?
• What do you think the central
conflict will be in this story based on
the historical context?
Chapter One
Discussion Leader
Summary
• Vahan Kenderian born in Bitlis which is a providence of Turkey
(once Armenia)
• Remembers the details and beauty of this city with sensory
details on page 3 and 4
• On page 4, he recalls a superior attitude about the greatness of
his hometown
• In 1915, Vahan was 12 years old (youngest child of one of the
wealthiest Armenians in Turkey)
• He grew up with luxuries and never knew what suffering really
felt like
• His father does not like his laziness/troublesome behavior and
insists that he needs to develop character and discipline because
he has a poor attitude
• Vahan’s father leads by example, and he is honorable and
dependable
• Vahan’s world is sheltered and safe/secure/ Childhood
Vocabulary
• Cobbled page 3 paved with small
rounded stones
• Blighting page 3 harming,
destroying, spoiling
• Madzoon page 3 yogurt product
• Consolation page 5 comfort,
support
Characterization
Direct Characterization
• Page 4 Vahan Kenderian- wealthy, 12 years old,
youngest, small, stocky, strong, never knew life
without luxery, troublemaker, lazy, poor attitude
Indirect Characterization
• Page 5 Threw paper at friends (Manoosh and
Pattoo)
• Fell asleep at desk, gave a teacher a
disrespectful look, skipped school, slacked on
chores
Characterization
Vahan’s Father
• Page 6
• Direct Characterization
• Leads by example
• Honorable
• Hard working
• Helpful and dependable
Indirect Characterization
• Page 6 He was a man that others turned to for
support
Literary Terms
• Setting
• Bitlis (Providence of Turkey)
• Foreshadowing
• Page 6-top of 7
• Father tried to open Vahan’s eyes
“beyond the long white wall that
surrounded our property…” to the
“challenges of the real world.”
Passages
• Page “In my real world, there would
always be this house I loved, the
laughter of brothers and sisters, uncles,
and cousins. In my real world, I would
always belong, and I would always be
happy.
Questions
What does this passage indicate?
What does Vahan’s father want him to
do?
Why does Vahan not act more honorable
like his father desires?
Chapter Two
Discussion Leader
Summary
• Begins with a flashback to Vahan’s childhood homeshows wealth and luxury
• Introduces family members
• Setting is established 1915
• Discusses the separation between the Turks and
Armenians-different languages, different schools,
different churches
• Turks are superior- Armenians must learn language
• Rumors of an Armenian massacre at a near city years
before
• Vahan was not told any of the details
• Vahan believes that the Turks in Bitlis are good, but
reveals that later finds out that they are the same
Vocabulary
• Page 9 Suitors (potential
marriage proposals/courters)
• Page 10 Massacre (mass killing)
Characterization
• Direct Characterization
• Diran: Oldest brother; hardworking; pride of family
(page 9)
• Tavel: brother
• Sisak: brother closest in age with Vahan (shares a
room) (page 8)
• Uncle Mumpreh: plays piano (page 8)
• Karnig: houseman
• Oskina: sister (helps brothers with chores) indirect
• Armenouhi: sister; pretty; ready for suitors (courting
for marriage)
Literary Terms
• Flashback:
• “If I close my eyes I can still see my
home…” (page 8)
• Foreshadowing:
• (page 10) “I would learn that some of
the Turks of Adana were also the Turks
of Bitlis.”
Passages
•Page 9 “I did not know
we were enemies…”
Questions
• What does Vahan mean by that statement?
• How does Vahan differ from his siblings?
• Why does Uncle Mumpreh say, “We can’t
trust them,” on page 10?
Chapter 3
Discussion Leader
Summary
• In the spring of 1915, policemen took Vahan’s father away
• His father’s name is Sarkis Kenderian
• Vahan’s grandmother, Toumia is the wisest and most
respected in the family and assured Vahan’s mother that he
will be back
• Vahan’s father does not return
• Vahan is worried
• The audience sees Vahan is more of a child than he realizes
and he goes to see his mother because he is afraid
• She assures Vahan that his father is away on business as
usual and she is not worried
• Vahan feels better but he doesn’t believe his mother
• His city began to change for the worse
• Uncle Mumpreh is arrested for being a revolutionary
Vocabulary
• Page 11 gendarmes:
policemen
• Page 12 antidote: cure,
remedy
• Page 14 renown: reputable,
famous, well known
Characterization
• Sarkis Kenderian
• Indirect Characterization: “It’s
nothing…” (confident)
• Uncle Mumpreh says, “He knows more
about running this city than they do”
(page 12) which indicates Vahan’s father
is powerful and respected
• Mother: (direct characterization) hazel
eyes, brown hair, tender smile, worrier
Literary Terms
• Foreshadowing page 14: stores
closed, heard gun shots,
screams, houses burned down,
no more school, stay home
Passages
• Page 14 to top of 15 “There
was no question now that this
was our Adana…”
Questions
• What does Vahan mean? What happened in
Adana?
• Why does Vahan feel better after talking to
his mother, but reveals that everything she
said was a lie?
• What clues are given that Vahan’s childhood
will soon be coming to an end?
Chapter 4
Discussion Leader
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Summary
The gendarmes (police) took Uncle Mumpreh away-accused of being a
revolutionary
All of the rumors were true about the massacres/screams/suffering
It was only the beginning for Vahan
Providence of Van –Selim Bey governor-murdered thousands of Armenians
Hundred of Armenians marching through with Turkish soldiers/police –husbands
and fathers killed
Karnig (houseman) disappeared-No one tells Vahan (sheltered) Oskina informs
him he committed suicide by hanging himself after discovering his family was
killed
All men were shot on the way (march) to Diarbekir- Vahan’s father is assumed
dead
8-900 Armenians marching through Bitlis
Tavel and Diran want to fight back; Sisak wants to esacpe- venerable
grandmother believes all will be fine because of power of Vahan’s father
Uncle Mumpreh was brought home with burns on his face and hands which
indicates he’s been tortured
Gives the women bags of poison just in case they need it, and the next morning
he was gone again
Vocabulary
• Fortress: any place of
exceptional security
• Haggard: worn; fatigued;
exhausted
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Characterization
Direct Characterization:
Page 16 Uncle Mumpreh- father’s younger brother
Comedian, black sheep
Vahan and Uncle Mumpreh relate (both feel they are
black sheep in family)
• Gifted student; dropped out of medical school
• Page 17-18 Oskina tomboy; protective, motherly, mature
• Indirect Characterization: helps struggling people with
minor medical issues
• Page 17 Selim Bey-governor of Van murdered Armenians
by the thousands
• Page 18 Karnig: houseman hung himself
Literary Terms
• Page 21 Foreshadowing: Uncle
Mumpreh gives the women in his family
bags of poison to wear around their
necks
Passages
• …”Eight or nine hundred of them, all
Armenian, with soldiers and
gendarmes on either side” (19).
Questions
• Page 20 What do the burns on Uncle
Mumpreh indicate as an inference you
can make?
• Page 21 Why does Uncle Mumpreh
disappear again?
• Page 17 Why does Vahan smile after he
discovers that all men were killed on
Chapter Five
Discussion Leader
Summary
• Soldiers surrounded Vahan’s house
• They question his mother where Uncle
Mumpreh is and if they are hiding anyone
• The soldiers ask the age of Diran (19) and
Travel (17), and they take them all out to the
garden and shoot Diran and Tavel
• Armenouhi rarely left her room-afraid
• The soldiers came back a week later
• They do not shoot anyone else but take
Vahan and his family to Goryan’s Inn
Vocabulary
• Page 23 Ominous: Threatening
• Page 25 Pallid: Pale
• Page 30 Effrontery (noun):
arrogance, boldness, brashness,
Characterization
• Direct Characterization
• Diran: oldest son, natural leader, optimistic, 19
years old
• Tavel: Diran’s best friend, 17 years old
• Oskina- is a lot like her father
• Indirect Characterization
• Vahan wants to comfort his mother but is too afraid
• Oskina on page 30 questions with effrontery
(arrogance) where they are being taken
Literary Terms
• Suspense “I looked up at the
street and my heart fell” (30)
• Setting: moving to Goryan’s Inn
(30)
Passage
• Page 23 “I did not know when I
opened my eyes the next
morning that it was the last day
of my childhood.”
Questions
• Why do the soldiers ask if they are
hiding anyone?
• Why do the soldiers kill Diran and
Tavel?
• Why don’t they kill Sisak and Vahan?