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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 do the police say about Bahadur's disappearance?

2. What does Jai tell the policeman after looking at his shoes?

3. What does Jai's family most often eat?

4. Why do Omvir's classmates not have much to say about him?

5. What does Omvir fear will happen to him if he does not get out of his basti?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who do Jai and his friends start to think might have kidnapped Bahadur early in Part II?

2. What does Guru help Jai and Pari with in their search for Bahadur?

3. What television shows does Jai like the most, and why?

4. How does Jai get along with Runu-Didi and how would you describe their relationship?

5. What does Omvir's father do and what does Omvir resent about his life?

6. Why does Kirpal-Sir send Jai away from school?

7. What does Junction-Ki-Rani reportedly do for young women?

8. Why does Jai's friend Faiz work part-time even though he is just a child?

9. What is one of the most obvious signs of the pollution in Jai's city, and how do the residents deal with it?

10. How do children ask for Mental's protection after he dies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Anappara chooses to begin this novel with the story of Mental and the supposed ability of his ghost to save children from terrible fates? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Which people or groups of people exploit the tensions between Hindus and Muslims in Jai's basti and the surrounding areas for their own purposes, and how do they do this? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Anappara chooses to alternate between Jai's first-person perspective and the third-person narration for all the children who are kidnapped throughout the novel? What effect does this perspective-switching have on the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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