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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. Who is Ibrahim?

2. What does Dina feel that she is always nagging the two tailors about?

3. Who is threatened by the police, being forced to give up Om and Ishvar?

4. What were young Ishvar and his brother hit with as punishment after they broke into the upper-class school?

5. What is Dina worried about when the tailors do not show up for work in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Dina's reaction to Maneck when he arrives to stay with her?

2. Why is Narayan murdered?

3. What does the officer suggest that Om and Ishvar do in their pursuit of a ration card?

4. How is Dina Dalal's home described?

5. What happens to young Maneck when he is away for the first time at boarding school?

6. How does Maneck's father, Farokh, treat his soft-drink recipe?

7. Why does Dukhi send for his sons to be sent to live with Ashraf?

8. What happens after Om is hit by the car while following Dina's taxi?

9. How does Mrs. Gupta feel about The Emergency?

10. How is the village, where the train makes its sudden halt, described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dina's character changes quite a bit when it comes to her ability to love.

Part 1.) Explain why you think Dina was initially so cold to the tailors.

Part 2.) Explain the ways that the tailors won Dina over, warming her heart.

Part 3.) Explain the outcome of this changing relationship. Who do you think the love benefited more?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of family planning and sterilization is a constant theme within the novel.

Part 1.) Explain what reasons you think the government has for wanting to sterilize villagers.

Part 2.) Explain the ways that the sterilization project spun completely out of control and the catastrophic effects that it had on individuals as well as communities. Were these outcomes intended?

Part 3.) Choose two characters and explain the ways that sterilization project most affected. How might their lives have been different if the sterilization project had never been approved by the government?

Essay Topic 3

Three very powerful images within the novel are Dina's quilt, the Beggarmaster's bag of coins, and Maneck's chess set. Choose one of these images and explain what they symbolize within the novel. How does Mistry use these items to convey a particular message to his audience?

(see the answer keys)

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