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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 the priest inside the temple do to indicate the beginning of services?

2. Who are the few men who come to the latrines wearing long white tunics and loose trousers?

3. What does Bakha tell Sohini he is going to do when he sends her home with his cleaning equipment?

4. What finally rouses Bakha from his bed at the beginning of the book?

5. What are the "jalebis" that Bakha buys in the market?

Short Essay Questions

1. What mixture of feelings does Bakha have about Sohini as they make their way home from the temple?

2. Describe the conditions in which Bakha's family lives.

3. Describe the dynamic between Bakha and his friends.

4. When Bakha has the urge to run away from the man yelling at him in the street, why does he feel he cannot run?

5. Describe Bakha's initial reaction to the man who accuses him of bumping him on the street.

6. What altercation does Sohini get into at the well, and why does it happen?

7. On his way into town, how does Bakha light his cigarette, and what does this incident demonstrate about how his caste status impacts his beliefs about himself?

8. Describe Bakha's morning before he leaves his family's house.

9. What work do Bakha and his family do?

10. How does Bakha feel as he enters the temple courtyard, and why does he have these feelings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look up the postcolonial term "mimicry." Then, write an essay in which you explore the relationship of this term to the choices that Bakha and his friends make. Take a position about why they do what they do, what the consequences--positive and negative--are for them, and what messages about both status and colonization are being transmitted through this aspect of Untouchable. Defend your ideas with textual evidence from the novel as well as from online sources, and be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes Untouchable's message about hope. Consider the characterization of Bakha as well as the novel's action. Give special consideration to the novel's final pages. Support your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that analyzes the significance of the images of nature in Untouchable. Describe the characteristics of these images and then analyze their function. Offer both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text in support of your claims.

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