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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. Who does Rahel meet as she is walking along the river remembering her childhood?

2. What subject does Baby Kochamma bring up at the airport to try to impress Sophie Mol?

3. How does Mammachi feel about Margaret Kochamma?

4. How old is Rahel's cousin, Sophie Mol, when she dies?

5. What does Rahel study at college?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rahel realize as she sits in the dark garden one night watching Estha in his room through the window?

2. What does Ammu think about after she locks herself in the bathroom one afternoon?

3. Why does Estha become sick while watching The Sound of Music?

4. How does Velutha feel after being fired from the pickle factory?

5. What does Velutha do after he is fired from the pickle factory?

6. What happens when the police find Velutha and the twins at the History House?

7. What do the twins realize about Ammu years later?

8. How does the tragic affair between Ammu and Velutha begin?

9. Who is Velutha?

10. Describe what happens to Ammu, Rahel's mother, when she leaves Ayemenem as a young woman.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the Small Things? How are they in contrast to Big Things? Why is Velutha the God of Small Things?

Essay Topic 2

How is incest hinted at in the novel? How is it viewed? What purpose does it serve to the themes of love and belonging?

Essay Topic 3

How does the author show the hypocrisy and manipulation of idealism?

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