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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. Where do Elliot and his mother live?

2. What does Bibi get very worked up about finding?

3. What is Laxmi always eating at her desk?

4. Laxmi has a picture of herself and her husband taken where?

5. Where do Laxmi and Miranda work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Dev and Miranda do one day when they are walking around Boston? What does Dev tell her during this outing?

2. Describe Bibi Haldar.

3. Please describe the Sens' experiences at the seaside with Elliot, as well as their drive home.

4. What does Twinkle find in the yard of her new house, and how did their reactions to this item once again differ?

5. Where did Miranda meet Dev?

6. Describe where and how Mrs. Sen practices her driving.

7. Why do Bibi's cousin and his wife doubt there is a cure for Bibi?

8. What do two "doctors" tell Bibi is the cure to her mysterious condition?

9. What sad story does Laxmi tell Miranda about her cousin's marriage?

10. How do the neighbor's protest Haldar's treatment of Bibi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does routine and ritual play in the stories? What is the impact on some of the characters in maintaining these long-established routines and ritual?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Many of the character in The Interpreter of Maladies has a misconception about someone that leads to unhappiness or harm. Discuss this theme using several of the characters and circumstances from the stories.

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