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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 article of Om's clothing does Maneck tear during their fight?

2. How many rupees per week must Om and Ishvar pay the Beggarmaster in return for their freedom?

3. Whose home does the Beggarmaster bring Ishvar and Om to on their first night of freedom?

4. Who laughs during Shankar's funeral, and asks Dina to leave with him?

5. What does Rajaram want to do with his life after he moves?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are the police called to Shankar's funeral?

2. How does Ishvar lose his legs?

3. How does the Beggarmaster know that he is related to Shankar?

4. What happens to Rajaram that prompts him to leave his job at the government?

5. What happens when the Beggarmaster comes to visit the relocation camp in Chapter 9?

6. What happens when Om begins to itch with lice?

7. How does the reunification between Dina and Maneck transpire?

8. What do Om and Ishvar see when they visit their old boss, Jeevan?

9. How does Om lose his testicles?

10. What happens when Dina purchases a bottle of vermifuge and gives a dose to Om?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the entire novel, Ishvar is obsessed with finding a wife for Om. Marriage is seen as a positive addition to families even when the family doesn't have the financial means to support another person.

Part 1.) Compare/Contrast the marriage between Dina and Rustom to the one between Nusswan and Ruby. What is the same about these marriages and what is different?

Part 2.) Explain why you think Ishvar's expectations for Om's wife and marriage are reasonable. How will Om's impending marriage affect the lives of everyone living in Dina's home?

Essay Topic 2

Rajaram is a strange character who exists simply by taking things from others. Give three examples of things that Rajaram has stolen from others, and what you think the items he chooses to steal say about him as a character. Then, weigh in on the transition that happens to Rajaram after he has returned from the Himalayas. Do you believe that his character has changed? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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