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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the clear difference between Salim and Father Huismans, aside from religion?

2. What is Salim's ethnic background?

3. How does Salim find the town when he arrives?

4. Who does Salim think about who had been driven on foot along the same road he travels?

5. What condition is the town in after the squatters settle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give some details about Father Huismans' hobby.

2. Why does Salim's family send the slave, Metty, to him?

3. Describe the reunion of Salim and Indar.

4. Why does Ferdinand ask the question about African religion?

5. How does Ferdinand become a burden on Salim?

6. Explain why Zabeth brings Ferdinand to see Salim.

7. How do Salim and his friend, Indar, escape the area where their families live?

8. Describe the rumors about the new complex being built near the town.

9. What is the underlying mood of the villagers and what effect does it have on Ferdinand?

10. What is the situation at the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on your opinion about how dictatorships are formed. Use Raymond's influence over the President that saw him enter the army as a young man, rise to the top in the military, and end up taking control of the whole country. Do you agree that this is a fairly accurate depiction of how dictators gain power through the military?

Essay Topic 2

Take the old saying, "It takes one to know one," and compare it to the meeting of Indar and Mahesh and his wife, Shoba. In Chapter 6, Metty recognizes a slave girl when she keeps coming to the store looking for him. Write an essay about how people can spot the faults in others that they have in themselves.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on the way Naipaul develops the character of Indar. Start with his early optimism about a European education. Discuss why you think he was never really successful. Explain how Naipaul creates Indar as a person who over values his own importance. Trace his arrival at the Domain with his chance meeting of the American and running into Raymond at the American millionaire's house.

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