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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 writer does Rushdie note denies desire to understand other writers’ processes?

2. Which of the following does Rushdie cite as an example of a courageous politician?

3. Which of the following does Rushdie note is a friend of his?

4. With which of the following does Rushdie note Hitchens became enamored?

5. In which year does Rushdie note the Indian Uprising occurred?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rushdie explain the American preoccupation with religion?

2. For what reason was Sunflower Seeds cordoned off from the public?

3. Paraphrase the remark by EB White about writing to children that Rushdie reports.

4. What does Rushdie call the most ancient question (180)?

5. How does Rushdie differentiate a “historical” fact from a “basic” fact?

6. What choice does Rushdie note is required to produce Othello?

7. Why does Rushdie note admiring Susan Orlean in regards to Adaptation?

8. What does Rushdie call “the final victory of the censor” (228)?

9. How does Rushdie define adaptation?

10. Paraphrase the question Rushdie asks Saul Bellow at PEN America in 1986?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the anthology, some individuals are given but one name, while others are given first- and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the book? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the book? How does Languages of Truth bear as much out?

Essay Topic 2

What does Rushdie gain from disparaging the works of other writers? That is, what effect is created by his doing so, and how does it work to the advantage of the anthology?

Essay Topic 3

It might be argued that the essays, taken together, comment about what, for Rushdie, is and is not good writing. What vision of good writing can be taken from the text, what in the text supports that vision, and how does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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