View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dina lend to Rajaram when he wants to start his own business?

2. At the end of the novel, how does Om respond when he hears that Maneck is back in town?

3. How many perspective wives are found for Om back in the village?

4. What part of his body does Om lose?

5. In Chapter 15, what family member does Ashraf tell the tailors has died?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ibrahim react after Dina's apartment is destroyed?

2. What happens when Dina purchases a bottle of vermifuge and gives a dose to Om?

3. What do Om and Maneck do during their vacation from work?

4. What does Dina do around the house when the tailors are off searching for a house, and how does she react when they return?

5. How does Maneck die?

6. What happens when the Beggarmaster comes to visit the relocation camp in Chapter 9?

7. What happens when Om begins to itch with lice?

8. Why are the police called to Shankar's funeral?

9. Why does the Beggarmaster leave Shankar on the streets even after it is revealed that they are brothers?

10. How does the Beggarmaster know that he is related to Shankar?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dina Dalal is described as a very tough woman. There have been many mishaps in her life that have shaped her. Describe two incidents in Dina's life that have shaped her into the independent woman that she is. Also, compare/contrast Dina's relationships with her brother Nusswan and Rustom. Which relationship do you think had a larger impact on her?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of social hierarchy is very strong within this novel.

Part 1.) Explain the ways that the main characters fit into the social hierarchy.

Part 2.) Choose one character and give three examples of ways that they attempt to claw their way up the social ladder.

Part 3) Explain the outcome of the character's struggle. Did it turn out to be a success, or a failure?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 746 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample