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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the person who interrupts Olivia's abortion do?

2. Where does the narrator first notice the beggar woman in Section 23?

3. What is Samadhi?

4. How does the doctor at the hospital ward respond to Chid and the narrator?

5. What does the narrator report in her August 31st journal entry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The use of religion and culture to justify a character's actions occurs in different ways in Heat and Dust.

1) Find 3 incidences of these occurrences and discuss their impact on the story.

2) Explain the differing attitudes toward abortion that are seen in the story.

3) Choose a character from the novel and explain how he or she is judged based on that person's religious or cultural beliefs.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout Heat and Dust, numerous references are made about India and Illness. Locate 3 such references in the novel. Analyze each one for its accuracy based upon the story, the impact this comment has on characters or events, and how the comment impacts the reader's experience of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

In Heat and Dust, the narrator explores the life of a woman who lives in a different era, while living in a culture different from her own. Answer the following questions with these points in mind.

1) Is Ritu's treatment by her husband, mother-in-law and the narrator acceptable? Explain.

2) Why is Olivia's behavior so readily condemned by her English peers?

3) Explain why the old beggar woman who dies in Maji's arms is pivotal to the narrator's journey.

(see the answer keys)

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