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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. How does Rama shake off the people who follow him?

2. Why does Dasaratha say he wants to step down?

3. What does Garuda bring back from heaven to ransom his mother?

4. What word does the Ramayana begin with?

5. What do the queens do in Dasaratha’s name, after his funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the idea of stealing Sita first presented to Ravana?

2. What is Sita’s response when she hears about Rama’s exile?

3. Describe Bharadwaja’s feast for Bharata and his party.

4. Why does Rama insist on going into the Dandaka Forest, against Sita’s wishes?

5. How did Agastya tame the upstart Vindhya Hills?

6. Describe Rama and Lakshmana’s training by Viswamitra.

7. When had Kaikeyi almost used her two wishes previously?

8. What delays Rama in his search for Sita?

9. How does Dasaratha describe Rama’s banishment as punishment for his own actions?

10. Describe Bharata’s meeting with Guha.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the primary purpose of the Ramayana? What kinds of purposes does it attempt to serve—explaining the history of the world, describing the right way to live, etc. Using examples from the text, propose one mode that is most important. Be sure to say why the others are not as important.

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of the Ramayana—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

Who is the audience for the Ramayana? What is the ideal reader for the Ramayana likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 908 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample