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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 type of wedding do Rustom and Dina wish to have?

2. What does the village that the train is traveling through smell of?

3. In Chapter 8, what were the captured men served by the villagers?

4. How much money are the villagers promised to attend the Prime Minister's speech?

5. What type of petal is being thrown from the helicopter onto the Prime Minister's stage?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after Om is hit by the car while following Dina's taxi?

2. How is the village, where the train makes its sudden halt, described?

3. What does Dina teach Maneck to do in Chapter 8, and why?

4. What is life like for Om and Ishvar while they are living with Nawaz?

5. What are Sergeant Kesar and the facilitator sent to the streets to do?

6. In Chapter 7, what happens to the slums that Om and Ishvar are living in?

7. What happens to young Maneck when he is away for the first time at boarding school?

8. What does Dina's collection of cloth symbolize?

9. How does Mrs. Gupta feel about The Emergency?

10. What is the subject of the speech that the Prime Minister is giving to the villagers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of social hierarchy is very strong within this novel.

Part 1.) Explain the ways that the main characters fit into the social hierarchy.

Part 2.) Choose one character and give three examples of ways that they attempt to claw their way up the social ladder.

Part 3) Explain the outcome of the character's struggle. Did it turn out to be a success, or a failure?

Essay Topic 2

Even though many of the characters are living lives of squalor, there is an innate lever of generosity within the communities.

Part 1.) Choose one character that has proven to be a generous character even though they did not have excessive means, and give three examples of their generosity.

Part 2.) Choose one character that has chosen to be stingy even though they had the means to be generous and give three examples of their stinginess.

Part 3.) Explain why you think these characters chose to react to the poverty around them in this manner.

Essay Topic 3

Om and Ishvar are forced to move around quite a bit within the novel. The main places that they call home are the slums, the work camp, the doorway, and Dina's home. Briefly describe the characters lives in each of those homes, what was positive about each of them, and what was negative.

(see the answer keys)

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