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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. Which of the following does the narrator use to describe Asha’s skin tone (194)?

2. How much debt does the narrator remark he is carrying when he puts his car in for repair in Scranton?

3. Whom does the narrator report is the Pulitzer-winning author of The Looming Tower?

4. The phrase “his laugh like a witch’s cackle” (202) offers an example of which of the following?

5. What is the name of the psychic Asha consults?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What reasons does Moroni give to mistrust Freud? What reasons does she note to trust him?

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

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

7. What comments does the narrator claim to expect to receive from his parents after leaving the repair shop in Scranton?

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

9. What overall project does the narrator ascribe to Rind?

10. What is the dream technique the narrator reports having learned from Moroni?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the end, who is the protagonist of the novel—that is, who is the novel really about, Ayad or Sikander? What in the text tells you so? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

What function is served by the paratextual shift from a typical prose layout to the screenplay layout that occurs during Sikander’s trial? How is it accomplished?

Essay Topic 3

Rind makes the comment that “Friendship’s great. But it never made anyone a billionaire” (127). What does it reveal about the character’s attitude? How does it do so? Does the novel endorse that attitude? How does it do so or fail to do so?

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