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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. Which resident of the building decided Boori Ma should be thrown out?

2. How old is Boori Ma?

3. What is Boori Ma's main job at the building where she lives?

4. How old is Lilia during the events of her story?

5. What does Mrs. Das want to mail to Mr. Kapasi?

Short Essay Questions

1. What devastating secret does Shukumar tell Shoba during the telling game to hurt her?

2. What are the national distinctions between Pakistan and India that Lilia is unaware of?

3. What is Mr. Kapasi's other occupation?

4. Why is the electricity being turned off in Shoba and Shukumar's neighborhood in "A Temporary Matter"?

5. What happens when Shukumar attends an academic conference in Baltimore during Shoba's pregnancy?

6. Why does Mr. Pirzada offer to go trick-or-treating with Lilia?

7. What happens to Boori Ma when the wives of the building decide to make improvements while the Dalals are out of town?

8. What would Mr. Kapasi like to be doing for work?

9. What does Mr. Kapasi think of Mr. and Mrs. Das as parents?

10. What problems do the two new basins purchased by Mr. Dalal cause in Boori Ma's building?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the use of secrets in various stories in the collection. What impact did revealing a secret have on the individual characters and plots of these stories?

Essay Topic 2

Feeling like an outsider is a recurring theme in the stories. Discuss this theme and how is shown using aspects of three or more of the stories in The Interpreter of Maladies.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the word "sexy" and its shades of meaning in the story "Sexy."

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This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample