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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 did Shoba give Shukumar for their first wedding anniversary?

2. What does Shoba remind Shukumar that he has on Friday?

3. How old is Shukumar?

4. What does Mrs. Das do in the car as her family drives through In India?

5. Shoba thought the poem Shukumar published was what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the Das family tour take a trip into the hills of Udayagiri?

2. What happens after Mr. Pirzada returns to Pakistan?

3. What devastating secret does Shukumar tell Shoba during the telling game to hurt her?

4. How do the Das family look to Mr. Kapasi?

5. What do Shoba and Shukumar tell each other the second night of the telling game?

6. What is similar between the Das marriage and the Kapasi marriage?

7. Why is the electricity being turned off in Shoba and Shukumar's neighborhood in "A Temporary Matter"?

8. What do Shukumar and Shoba do the first night the power is turned off?

9. Without the Dalals around to protect her, what happens to Boori Ma?

10. What secret does Mina Das reveal to Mr. Kapasi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how each story contains a character with a "malady" that is misinterpreted.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different marriages presented in the stories. What aspects of the marriages are due to culture and what aspects transcend culture differences?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss what Lilia's father means when he says: "But what does she learn about the world?" How does the dichotomy of being part of two cultures impart a knowledge that can't be taught in American schools? What view of American learning do you think Lahiri was trying to impart through these stories?

(see the answer keys)

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