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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. Who is meeting Will and Vijaya upon their arrival at the school?

2. What is the name of the play that Mary likes?

3. How does the Rani address Will?

4. What is the word they whisper in a prayer for peace?

5. Who does Will ask about when he sees Dr. Robert in the morning?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Murugan view the ceremony at the temple with open contempt?

2. What is Leela Rao's position on the island? What makes her important?

3. What are the differences between what Will remembers about the Oedipus play and what Mary recounts?

4. In Pala, what is "grace" and how does this version of "grace" differ from ours?

5. What horrible things befell Aunt Mary?

6. Why does Murugan believe that the people of Pala won't accept the lure of consumer goods?

7. Why do the Palanese accept the use of symbolism in religion, though don't encourage it?

8. What does the mountain climb ordeal teach the youth of Pala and what happens afterwards?

9. Explain why Mrs. Narayan is a justified optimist.

10. What does Will notice about the women on the island?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the Palanese deal with grief? How does it differ from the way we deal with it if we used Will's example? Which do you think is more healthy, theirs or ours?

Essay Topic 2

How do the Palanese prevent a great leader from arising?

Essay Topic 3

What could lead Will to believe that Murugan was having a sexual relationship with Colonel Dipa? Is this a valid conclusion based on the evidence in the first few chapters? What argues for this logic? What argues against it? Quote your supporting statements from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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