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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 good news does Yezad have when he comes home from work?

2. How do the children react to Kapur?

3. What is Mr. Kapur's wife's view of public service?

4. In Nariman's words, how would you complete this sentence, "the loss of home ...?

5. Why does Kapur not respond to Yezad's request about his new responsibilities?

Short Essay Questions

1. What can we learn about the relationship between Roxana and Yezad when Yezad tells Roxana he lost their money playing Matka?

2. What does Yezad ask Vilas to do about the Christmas decorations, and what is Vilas' reaction?

3. In what ways do Jal and Yezad begin to act differently after Coomy and Kapur's deaths?

4. What is significant about the introduction of Daisy Ichamora to Nariman?

5. What happens with Kapur and the children when Kapur puts on his Santa costume?

6. What did Murad do in order to have enough money to buy Christmas presents for his family?

7. How does Jal try to placate Edul Munshi's wife while Edul finishes the work in Jal and Coomy's apartment?

8. When Yezad wakes up during the night with chest pains, what does he attribute the cause to?

9. Describe why both Roxana and Yezad are puzzled about the amount of money in the budget envelopes.

10. Why does Jal take money from his account and go to visit Roxana?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the book there are references to the Parsi faith, to Shiv Sena, and to the conflict over changing Bombay to Mumbai. How much did these issues affect the lives of the people in the story, and how much do such issues affect everyday life? Use examples from history and/or current events to help you support your view.

Essay Topic 2

The title of the book could be interpreted in two ways: family is important and the issues and challenges of being a family. Tell how each interpretation could be supported by the events, action, and plot of the story.

Essay Topic 3

There are several negative forces in Family Matters: Coomy's nagging and crabbiness, Yasmin marrying for security instead of love, the constant search for money. And there are also several positive forces in the story: Yezad's search for faith, the love between Murad and Jehangir, Nariman's undying devotion to Lucy. Compare and contrast the positive and negative forces in Family Matters and show how each serve to move the story along and lend to its entirety.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,026 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample