51 pages • 1 hour read
Kaveh AkbarMartyr!
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
In her first conversation with Cyrus, Orkideh tells him that he wants to be an “earth martyr.” What does this phrase mean, and how does it contribute to Cyrus’s developing understanding of martyrdom in the novel?
Examine the relationship between Orkideh and her ex-wife, Sang Linh. In a book about Iranian American experience, why is Sang’s Vietnamese American identity significant? How does this relationship relate to or contrast with Orkideh’s previous romance with Leila? Support your response with specific examples from the text.
What happens to Cyrus and Zee at the end of the book, and how does the surrealist ending enhance the overall meaning of and themes explored in the novel? Provide specific examples to support your interpretation.
Before Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar had only published collections of his poetry, including Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Portrait of the Alcoholic. How does the author’s background in poetry inform and influence the text? Use examples from the novel to ground your response.
What is the relationship between Cyrus’s “BOOKOFMARTYRS.docx” and the book Martyr! itself? What is the relationship between their two authors, Cyrus and Akbar, respectively?
Throughout the text, many historical martyrs are given their own poems in Cyrus’s “BOOKOFMARTYRS.docx.” Select one poem, research the historical figure’s story, and analyze the novel’s corresponding poem using what you have learned.
Consider the setting of the Brooklyn Museum for Cyrus and Orkideh’s meetings. Beyond Orkideh’s career as an artist, why might have Akbar chosen this as a significant location within the book? How does the space of the museum relate to key ideas explored throughout Martyr!?
Martyr! is a literary fiction novel that incorporates components of many other genres and literary forms. What other genres could describe this novel, and how do these genres appear in the text? Use evidence from the text to ground your response.
What messages about the United States does Akbar convey in the novel? Provide specific examples from the text, whether explicit or implicit, to support your analysis.
At several points throughout the novel, Akbar quotes a real New York Times article from July 5, 1988, entitled “The Dowing of Flight 655.” Read this article and analyze it alongside Martyr! How does the tone and information provided by this article interact with the book, written nearly four decades later? In what ways are they similar and different?
