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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. Why is the social setting so different for Salim?

2. What behavior does Ferdinand go through after coming to the lycee?

3. What does Indar lecture about when Salim attends his class?

4. What does Salim say that he and all the guests at the party were doing?

5. Where has Salim come from as the story opens?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Salim and his friend, Indar, escape the area where their families live?

2. What is the situation at the beginning of the novel?

3. Describe Zabeth's son.

4. What is happening with the town shortly after Salim arrives?

5. What is Raymond's story about the President as a young man?

6. What is the problem that arises over a book?

7. How does Ferdinand become a burden on Salim?

8. Describe what made Mahesh's wooden spoon venture a failure.

9. Why does Ferdinand ask the question about African religion?

10. What makes the trip longer and more complicated?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on the importance of expressing gratitude in human relations. Use Ferdinand's short note to Salim and Metty after the threat of war subsides in the town. Explain why it is necessary to thank people who perform some service or give some gift.

Essay Topic 2

At the end of the novel, Salim is leaving the town and it is inferred he will return to London and marry Kareisha. The marriage arrangement was tacitly made years ago when Nazruddin sold his store in the town at a loss. Write your opinion of arranged marriages as opposed to the western way of dating before marriage.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 9, Indar describes his visits to the Indian High Commission in London. Write a paper on how Indar exhibits the prejudices of the caste system of India even though he had never been to India in his life. Write your paper on your feelings about classifying people according to the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, and the level of their education.

(see the answer keys)

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