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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 many public taps does Asha’s area have?

2. What job had Kamble held?

3. Which of the following does Abdul wish to buy?

4. From what country does Zehrunisa hail?

5. What dish does Zehrunisa make for Eid?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Asha’s self-help group scheme work?

2. Why had Sunil refused to beg for money at the local orphanage?

3. Why do the recycling plant owners wear white?

4. Per the text, why had families encouraged widows to self-immolate on their husbands’ pyres?

5. For what reasons do Abdul’s parents favor their selection of a wife for him?

6. Why does Abdul regard the improvements to his family home as unwise?

7. Why does Sunil scavenge on a ledge above a river?

8. Why does Abdul believe others in the area hold his family in disregard?

9. What prompted the initial settlement of the slum?

10. What local difficulties does the text note that monsoon season presents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Readerly attention focuses on the following comment: “India still made a person know his place, and wishing things different struck Abdul as a childish pastime, like trying to write your name in a bowl of melted kulfi” (15). What might attract attention thereto, and why might it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Section divisions, their titles, and chapter numbering / division schema are all components of paratext. That is, they are not part of the text but are associated with it closely and affect its meaning. What significance, if any, accrues to the chapter-numbering scheme at work in Behind the Beautiful Forevers? If there is significance, how does that significance manifest? If there is not, what in the book supports the paratextual divisions that are in place?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 558 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample