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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. Why does Yezad not want Kapur to pay the Shiv Sena?

2. Why is the store closed when Yezad returns to work the day after Coomy's funeral?

3. Why does Coomy agree to allow Edul Munshi to help fix up her apartment?

4. What request does Jehangir make one evening as he is having supper with his family?

5. What does Jehangir have to do after putting old and wrinkled money in the budget envelopes?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Yezad's plan to coerce Kapur to run for municipal council backfire?

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

3. What happens to Yezad's work situation after Kapur's death?

4. What are Mr. Kapur's wife's reasons for not wanting him to run for public office?

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

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

7. What excuses do Roxana and Yezad make for Jehangir when his teacher tells them Jehangir has been taking bribes as homework monitor? How is Jehangir punished?

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

9. What effect has acting as homework monitor had on Jehangir?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As the family moves into more comfortable lodgings, begins to have more money, and find other interests, they begin to lose touch with each other and with their own values. Show how this affects the characters individually and as a family. Is this a natural progression of events in this story? Is it true in life as well as in fiction?

Essay Topic 2

When using the good china for Murad's birthday reminds the family that one of Nariman's beliefs was that people should "take pleasure in the beautiful things to defeat the sadness and sorrow of life." How did Nariman live up to that belief? Did any other characters in the story follow his lead? How is that philosophy revealed throughout the story?

Essay Topic 3

Nariman is kept from following his heart by the tenets of his religious belief. What is this belief? How does it control his life? Is that a good thing? How could his life have been different if he had followed his heart?

(see the answer keys)

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