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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 high did the railway climb through the pass?

2. What poem did Molesworth quote while waiting for Yugoslav officials to look over passenger papers in Chapter 2?

3. What was the translation of the Turkish dish imam bayildi?

4. How long before departure were VIP seats reserved on Indian trains?

5. What English novelist once wrote, "The journey is the goal"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Molesworth's attitude toward tourism?

2. Why was Theroux fascinated by the taxi driver's offer of a prostitute in the Bay of Bengal?

3. Why did Theroux have an early childhood fascination with train travel?

4. What is ironic about the treatment of the young Indian man fleeing London's racism in Chapter 7?

5. Why did Paramahansa Yogananda, the guru followed by Mr. Gupta in Chapter 9, go to America?

6. Describe Mr. Gopal, the embassy liaison man showing the tourist sites to Theroux in Chapter 11.

7. Why had Sadik still not taken a pilgrimage to Mecca when he met Theroux in Chapter 4?

8. What were Theroux's impressions of the Pakistani city of Peshawar?

9. What were Theroux's impressions of the alleged tombs of Cain and Abel?

10. Describe the special requirements and characteristics of the Sikh religion outlined by Theroux in Chapter 8.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Theroux opened the book with a description of his childhood love of trains. What was it about trains, as opposed to other forms of transportation, that fascinated him so much? Why did he choose to travel by train through Asia? Would he have had the same rich experiences he had by train if he had instead flown from city to city in Asia? Would he have met the same people and had the same fascinating conversations?

Essay Topic 2

While most of the trains boarded by Theroux were rather slow and, in many cases old, some of the trains he rode in Japan were extremely fast. As a result, he felt he did not have rich experiences. Did the speed of the trains interfere with his ability to have revealing conversations with others? Or was some of that due to the Japanese character? How would slower trains facilitate conversation?

Essay Topic 3

In Vietnam, Theroux wrote that his impression of American involvement had been doomed because we had no intention of staying. Therefore, we never developed a vision of what kind of nation we would leave behind, and the Vietnamese emerged damaged and abandoned. Do you believe the U.S. could have achieved its objectives had we remained in the country for a longer period of time? What responsibility did Theroux suggest a nation had to stay and rebuild another nation after involving itself in a military mission?

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