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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 Harry return to the palace after staying with Olivia and Douglas for several days?

2. What best describes the narrator's morning routine at her room in Satipur?

3. What does Inder Lal's mother do to calm the screaming person in the courtyard the night of March 9th?

4. What best describes the narrator's room when both Chid and Ritu are in it?

5. How does the narrator describe Baba Firdau's shrine?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the narrator's clothing and her reasons for choosing them in Section 4.

2. What is Satipur like in Section 17?

3. Are Mrs. Saunders and Olivia similar, based on their first meeting in Section 8?

4. Is Mrs. Saunders aware of Olivia's relationship with the Nawab in Section 24?

5. Explain how the narrator tells Chid and Inder Lal about her pregnancy in Section 28.

6. Is Maji sympathetic to the narrator?

7. Is the narrator's decision to stay in India indicative of her approval or disapproval of Olivia's life and decisions?

8. How do the men react when Olivia first reveals that she is pregnant?

9. Why does Inder Lal's mother take Ritu on the pilgrimage?

10. How does the Nawab show his contempt for Saunders in Section 24?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The power to change one's self and transform one's circumstances is a theme in Heat and Dust.

1) Explain how the dual stories of Olivia and the narrator reflect this theme.

2) Discuss the impact of setting and nature on a personal transformation in the story.

3) What one character transformation that did NOT occur in the story could have changed the entire course of the novel? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Do the characters in Heat and Dust create their own destinies, or has life thrust circumstances upon them? Analyze this question for any 3 characters in the story. Be sure to select at least one character from Olivia's time and one from the minor time. Consider expectations, behavior, circumstances and attitudes.

Essay Topic 3

Symbolism occurs in many forms in Heat and Dust. Select 3 symbolic items from the list below, or elsewhere in the story. Answer the questions that follow about those 3 items. Red strings, the piano, Olivia's letters, Chid's robe, the Nawab's palace, the Saunders' baby's grave, the grove, Baba Firdau's shrine, the royal tombs, Maji's hut.

1) Explain the significance this item has to the story and to specific characters.

2) Relate the symbolic item to the culture in which it exists.

3) Discuss what the story would lose without the inclusion of this symbolic item.

(see the answer keys)

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