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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 does Nataraj try to do for the poet?

2. What does Nataraj's wife do when interviewed by the police?

3. What was the town saying about Nataraj after Vasu's death?

4. How do the poet, Sastri, and Nataraj spend the night prior to the parade?

5. What is Nataraj's intent when he goes up to Vasu's room when the procession is about to come by?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Vasu come to help with the collection of funds for the celebration? What do people say about him?

2. Why did Muthu come to the press to visit Nataraj?

3. Rangi and Nataraj discuss several things when she taps on the grille of the press. What do they discuss and what is their conversation like?

4. How did the police investigation turn out? What was the common belief about Vasu's death?

5. What happens when Nataraj enters Vasu's apartment after hearing about his death?

6. What is the night and morning before the celebration like for Nataraj?

7. What day do they choose for the celebration, and how do they choose it?

8. What interaction to Vasu and Nataraj have after Kumar and the mahout leave Mempi?

9. What happens when Nataraj travels to Mempi with the information about the animal hospital?

10. What is Nataraj's first plan to keep Vasu from shooting Kumar?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the book The Man-eater of Malgudi, the townspeople assume that Nataraj has murdered Vasu. Write an essay about this topic.

Part 1. Why do the people assume Nataraj has murdered Vasu? What is the historical statement that R.K. Narayan is trying to make?

Part 2. How does Nataraj feel about being accused of the murder? What does he do to establish his innocence?

Part 3. If Vasu had been alive when Nataraj went up to his room to save Kumar during the procession, do you think Nataraj would have succeeded? What would the outcome of that show down have been?

Part 4. How does the accusation of murder affect Nataraj after the affair is over? What are the long term consequences for him?

Essay Topic 2

The author of The Man-eater of Malgudi is a respected and prolific author. Write an essay about R.K. Narayan.

Part 1. Biography. Where did R.K. Narayan grow up and study? When did he live and what important events did he witness?

Part 2. What influence on his work did the political situation of era he lived in have?

Part 3. What others works has he produced and what recognition has he received?

Essay Topic 3

"The universe," says Sastri, "has survived all the rakshasas that were ever born. Every demon carries within him, unknown to himself, a tiny seed of self-destruction, and goes up in thin air at the most unexpected moment."

This quote by Sastri represents a central theme of the book: the conflict of good and evil. Write an essay about the sentiment behind this quote.

Part 1. Do you agree with Sastri's sentiment? Does evil carry the seed of its own destruction?

Part 2. Cite other works, religious or fictional, that address this concept. What do they have to say?

(see the answer keys)

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