1. a) Where is the Abu Shujaa Market?
b) For how long has the market been in operation?

2.  Why do you think markets like Abu Shujaa have become the favorite targets for attacks?

3.  How have these attacks affected business for the merchants there?  Be specific.

4.  How has overall violence in and around Baghdad affected business at the Abu Shujaa market?

5.  What has one young man done to compensate for the lack of business in his brother's hardware store?

6. Below are some questions not asked in this article.  Which question do you think the reporter should have asked?  (or...write a question of your own).  Explain the reason for your choice.

• To the fishmonger: you sell 15,000 dinars worth of fish per day.  How much did you sell under Saddam?
• To the Agriculture Ministry clerk: You can afford to spend only $23 a day to feed your household of 12.  What job did you have when Saddam was in power and how much did you have to spend then on your household food per day?  You can only afford to buy fruit once a week.  Were you able to purchase fruit every day when Saddam was in power?
• How do the vendors view the suicide bombers/insurgents?
• What do the vendors think about the U.S.?
• What do the vendors think would be the best way to end the violence in Baghdad?
• Was life better for them under the rule of Saddam Hussein?  (For each respondent, identify whether he is Sunni Muslim [favored by Saddam] or Shia Muslim [persecuted by Saddam])
• How does each view the future of Iraq?
• What is the overall feeling of the merchants at the market: hope, despair, pragmatism, apathy, anger?