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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 appears in Jaki’s dream in the Fifth Moon?

2. Who does Maali watch learn of his disappearance?

3. What does the Minister do with the box?

4. Who develops Maali's negatives?

5. What does Maali wish he could ask the universe?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Maali upset when he witnesses the Minister burn the box?

2. What does Maali tell Dr. Ranee after emerging from the dreamscape?

3. What does Dr. Ranee inform Maali about in their first interaction?

4. How does Maali attempt to communicate to Jaki that the negatives are not important?

5. Why does Dr. Ranee want Maali to feel at peace?

6. What is the author suggesting about Maali’s journey from one moon to the next?

7. How did Maali spend the night of his death?

8. How does the author convey Maali's spiritual trascencedence?

9. What does Dr. Ranee teach Maali about good and evil?

10. Why does Maali continue lamenting the loss of his photographs?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of the mara tree? What does Maali think about while in the mara tree with Sena?

Essay Topic 2

Why is Maali ambitious to take photographs throughout his life?

Essay Topic 3

"Why is Sri Lanka Number One in suicides?" asks the girl peering through thick glasses. "Are we that much sadder or violent than the rest of the world?" "Who the fuck cares?" says the hunched figure, as a lady in pigtails does her high jump over the edge. "It’s because we have just the right amount of education to understand that the world is cruel," says the schoolgirl. "And just enough corruption and inequality to feel powerless against it" (285).

What might this excerpt from the text say about social conditions within Sri Lanka during the civil war, and why was the suicide rate in the country so high?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 728 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample