1. “Yet only in Arabic class were we constantly told that we could not master this most difficult of languages, that no matter how much we studied and practiced, we could not possibly hope to write as well as al-Mutanabbi or, heaven forbid, the apex of the language, the Quran itself. Teachers indoctrinated students, just as they had been indoctrinated when younger. None of us can rise above being a failure as an Arab, our original sin.” 2. “I am my family’s appendix, its unnecessary appendage.” 3. “There are many reasons for not naming a character or someone you’re writing about. You might want to have the book be entirely…