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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 best describes the mood at the Mehta home right after Hari's death?

2. What does Koly embroider on the quilt that she makes for Chandra's wedding gift?

3. How does Koly travel to meet her groom?

4. What makes Koly erupt in a coughing fit while Koly is sitting with him, after she gets permission from Sass to do so?

5. Who tells Koly of Hari's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Hari's death addressed?

2. How is the role of women in India at this time depicted in Koly's role at Chandra's wedding?

3. Why is Chandra impressed by the qualifications of her intended husband?

4. Describe Koly's first night in her new home after she is married.

5. Explain Chandra's expectations of her family's trip to the Ganges River.

6. Explain what Koly's daydreams consist of in Chapter 4, after Hari's death.

7. Describe the events that lead up to an envelope with Koly's name arriving at the Mehta's house each month.

8. Explain what Hari's doctor has to say about the family's trip to the Ganges, and his parents' response.

9. Sass demands, for the second time, that Koly give her the silver earrings. Explain why keeping these earrings is so important to Koly in Chapter 5.

10. Explain how Koly's parents earn income for the family.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the impact of good health and illness on the plot line of the story. At what points in the novel does the health of a character result in a major change in the direction of the story? Do any of the characters have choices in the occurrence or in the direction that their lives took at this point? Explain why or why not. Is health or financial status more important to the outcomes of the lives of the characters in this novel? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Different characters in the novel view their responsibilities in different ways. Choose three of the characters listed and discuss their definitions of responsibility, family, and honor in the novel. Choose from these characters: Koly, Sass, Sassur, Koly's mother or father, Maa Kamala, Raji, and the benefactor of the widow's home.

Essay Topic 3

Loneliness in this story is evident, not only with Koly, but with many characters in Homeless Bird. Choose a character from the story, other than Koly, and answer the following questions:

1) Explain why you believe that loneliness is a motivating factor in this character's decisions or actions.

2) Identify connections that this character makes, refuses to make, or misses out on that could have eased his or her loneliness.

3) What substitutes for human closeness does this character use, and how effective are they?

(see the answer keys)

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