Zlata's Diary

Multiple Choice

1. B (Various locations)

2. A (2)

3. B (Various locations)

4. A (Various locations)

5. C (Various locations)

6. C (173)

7. B (Various locations)

8. B (Various locations)

9. A (Various locations)

10. D (Various locations)

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. The Preface provides a look at Zlata after the war and helps readers grapple with the notion of how war continues to shape survivors’ lives, such as Zlata’s choice of degree in International Peace Studies and advocacy work. The reporter’s Introduction corroborates Zlata’s reliability as a diarist but also offers insight about Zlata that readers do not see in the diary—e.g., di Giovanni’s observation that Zlata must be strong for her parents’ sake and has “lost her innocence.” (ix; xxvi)

2. The diary and di Giovanni’s characterization match in their depiction of Zlata’s interests, sense of humor, hobbies, and even her acclimation to the war; Zlata writes that she has gotten used to the shelling, while di Giovanni notes that when a shell falls, Zlata hardly flinches. Di Giovanni overlooks the depths of Zlata’s personal despair and frustrations, such as when she contemplates suicide but observes Zlata’s determination to be strong and stoic for her parents’ sake, something Zlata does not mention about herself. (xxiv; xxv-xxvi; 130)

3. The family must learn to seek shelter, rearrange their house and activities around artillery fire, and find new sources of basic needs like food, heat, and water from humanitarian aid packages, crops planted in their flower gardens, burned furniture, and supplies and electricity shared among neighbors. The family’s tight-knit community and neighborhood, Zlata’s mother’s job as a chemist, and Zlata’s writing all enable them to access aid, survive, and persevere. (Various locations)

4. At first Zlata writes with disbelief, in all caps, as when she writes in April of 1992, “NO ONE AND NOTHING HERE IS NORMAL!” and “This really is WAR.” Her tone shifts to acceptance by August 1992, when she writes that at school she doesn’t “think about the shelling or the war” and continues to sound brave and resigned until spring of 1993, when she begins to vacillate between remaining brave and hopeful and admitting to deep feelings of despair. (30; 35; 75)

5. Zlata continues to grow out of her clothes, gain maturity, and (in moments of calm) socialize with friends and attends school—all typical preteen experiences. However, the war causes her to lose her innocence unusually quickly and completely: The threat of death or catastrophic injury of friends and loved ones hangs over her head, and she has new responsibilities and must adapt to living under constant strain.  (Various locations)

6. Spring is a symbolic time of hope, rebirth, and the return of color, but for Zlata, who has been worn down by a cold winter in a destroyed city, spring is not a part of her reality. Writing in March while sick, Zlata does not see reason to hope, especially as the anniversary of the war approaches with no end in sight. (124-125)

7. Zlata’s family seems more secular, as she does not mention attending church, even at Christmas; she also mentions the observance of Muslim holidays at her school, indicating that her neighborhood is integrated and accepting. Zlata does mention the occupation and destruction of Otes and Grbavica, areas where survivors were subjected to ethnic cleansing or sent to concentration camps, but because these areas were far from Zlata, because news did not travel easily, because she was a child, and because ethnic cleansing was often covered up, Zlata likely didn’t know the extent of the ethnic division and targeted attacks. (24; 90; 101).

8. Because war is unpredictable, the healing process from trauma is also unpredictable. Furthermore, life as a refugee is about entering a new and unknown world. Ending the diary with a hanging question is rhetorically appropriate in that it captures Zlata’s reality of not knowing what the next steps are, who she will become, or even when the war might end. (197)