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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. For which of the following is Asha working when the narrator meets her?

2. On what road does the narrator report his car breaking down?

3. How long does the narrator report being in a relationship with Asha?

4. How much does Asha pay for a session with her psychic?

5. What investment company does Rind found in which the narrator invests?

Short Essay Questions

1. What agencies does the narrator deny led to his wealth?

2. What reasons does the narrator give for the SEC investigation of Rind’s investment company?

3. What associations does the narrator report many interlocutors who ask about his name and background have with India?

4. Why does the narrator report being initially put at ease by the Pennsylvania state trooper who pulls him over?

5. Why does the university dean on Rind’s foundation board oppose the narrator joining said board?

6. How does the narrator describe Mariam Meriha (137)?

7. What factors does the narrator cite as having broken him out of his wealth-induced laziness and indulgence?

8. What does the narrator report as shocking in his review of the transcripts of proceedings against Rind’s investment company?

9. What decorations are on the walls of the repair shop in Scranton?

10. What features does the narrator initially ascribe to Rind that mark him as Pakistani, rather than Indian?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rind quotes Norbert Elias as remarking that “The established majority takes its we-image from a minority of its best, and shapes a they-image of the despised outsiders from a minority of their worst” (139). Does the novel agree with the sentiment? What in the text asserts that it does or does not? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

What function is served by the paratextual shift from a typical prose layout to italics that occurs between “Langford v. Reliant; or, How My Father’s American Story Ends” and “Free Speech: A Coda?” How is it accomplished?

Essay Topic 3

Consider the following comment: “As ever, interpretation has more to do with the one interpreting than the one being interpreted” (25). Is the comment true or not? What in the novel and in experience suggests that it is or is not? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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