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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 the betrothed of Rani Hamayun?

2. For how long does Omar sleep at night?

3. What significant event happens to the girls at their coming-out party?

4. Into where are the Muslims herded for their own safety, following the death of Bilquis' father?

5. For how many days, roughly, does Raza Hyder go without sleep in order to watch over the refugees?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the end of Bilquis' father's business.

2. Why is Raza Hyder's military victory so greatly lauded throughout Pakistan?

3. What are the lasting effects of Omar's birthday request upon his mothers?

4. Of what sort of development is Omar Khayyam Shakil deprived in his formative years?

5. Why does Raza Hyder stake himself to the ground in Iskander Harappa's yard?

6. What theory does the author propose regarding the mysterious pregnancy of the sisters?

7. What sort of gossip floats around Farah Zoroaster and Eduardo Rodrigues?

8. How does Omar Khayyam describe himself to Iskander Harappa, as described at the end of Chapter 1?

9. How does Bilquis come to be accepted as a member of the Hyder family?

10. Why is Raza Hyder sent to the Needle Valley?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A major theme of the story is the overall instability of Pakistani society as it is represented. This overall instability is reflected in various ways, both macrocosmic (in nature) and microcosmic (in individuals). Examine these reflections in a considerate essay. What are the macrocosmic reflections of instability? What are the microcosmic reflections? Is the overall situation of instability constructed by the individual situations of instability? If so, how? Is the country unstable just as it is explicitly portrayed, or in any other fashions? What individual decisions and actions create the ostensible aspects of the country's instability?

Essay Topic 2

In a carefully developed essay, discuss the importance of catharsis of emotions and how the neglect of catharsis leads to calamity, as is demonstrated in Shame. What is catharsis? Why is it important? What happens when emotions are not acknowledged? What happens to the reactions that ought to occur? Where do they go? How do they transfer from one person to another?

Essay Topic 3

Periodically throughout the story, the fictional Pakistan undergoes periods of military coups and subsequent military rule. In an analytical essay, discuss the possible reasons and significance for this occasional turn to the military. What is sought by a military coup, implicitly or explicitly? What sort of men typically achieve high positions in the military? Why are such mean appealing in a time of instability? How do such men eventually also fall from governmental favor?

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This section contains 865 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample