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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 is the religious background of Rahel's family?

2. What part of Estha does Rahel reach out and touch even though he has not even acknowledged her being in the house?

3. What event does Estha write about in his Wisdom Exercise Notebook?

4. Who is Baby Kochamma in love with?

5. What is Estha wearing the day they go to The Sound of Music?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Sophie Mol and Margaret arrive at the airport?

2. Summarize what happened to Rahel in the years she has been away from Ayemenem?

3. What does Comrade Pillai remember about Rahel and his son Lenin?

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

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

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

7. Describe Pappachi.

8. What does Rahel notice has become of the river that played such an important role in her childhood?

9. Why does Estha go to the lobby by himself while the family is watching The Sound of Music at the Theater?

10. How does Rahel view her brother when she sees him for the first time in twenty-three years?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following statement: "...it really began in the days when the Love Laws were made. The laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much." What were the Love Laws and which ones were broken in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the reaction the family has to Ammu's affair versus the reaction they have to Sophie's drowning. Why is one more important to the family?

Essay Topic 3

Why do the twins consider how much they are loved, whom they love, and who loves them? What are the roots of this deep-seeded need and how is it shown throughout the novel?

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This section contains 989 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample