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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. In "The Grove of Ascetics," who does Palipana say that the girl is who is with him?

2. In "Sarath," where is the rented house where Anil is staying?

3. What was the occupation of Sarath's father?

4. How did Anil's parents die?

5. How many of Sarath's father's brothers were married to the same woman?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "A Brother," when and how did Gamini handle triage?

2. In The Grove of Ascetics, how does Anil determine the age of a skeleton?

3. Who is Chitra, and why does Anil contact her in Sarath?

4. What does Sarath remember about being Palipana's student in The Grove of the Ascetics?

5. Who was a mentor to Sarath as an adult and what happened to him?

6. What is the place like where Sarath and Anil find Palipana in the Grove of Ascetics?

7. In "A Brother," what did Anil notice about men and women when she went abroad to study medicine?

8. In "A Brother," what did Anil find different about English classrooms?

9. In the Introduction, why is a woman sitting in a grave in Guatemala?

10. At the end of "A Brother," what images did Sarath and Palipana once see in a cave?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gamini and his wife have very different opinions about his childhood. How does Gamini describe his childhood? How does his wife describe his childhood? How much of what they feel about his childhood is perception and how much is reality? Is either one of them able to see the truth of his childhood?

Essay Topic 2

The next to the last chapter in the novel is called "The Life Wheel." What is a life wheel? In what way are the lives of characters connected through a life wheel? What does the life wheel represent?

Essay Topic 3

Anil had an affair with a married man. How does the author describe the relationship between the two? Why was the relationship doomed from the beginning?

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