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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. How much does Rama earn each day in sales?

2. In what region is the village the talkative man goes to visit when he encounters the tiger?

3. Who offers to buy Rama Rao's old house?

4. Why does Kannan decide he can gamble?

5. What kind of clothing does the astrologer wear when he is first introduced in the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Dr. Raman change his rule about being honest when it comes to his friend Gopal's medical situation?

2. What eventually happens to the statue of Frederick Lawley?

3. Why does Thanappa hide some of the mail for Ramanujan's family?

4. How does the reader know how much time passes during "The Axe"?

5. Why must Sambu meet with the tufted-beard man even though he doesn't want to?

6. What does Rama Rao plan to do with the money he gets from selling his home?

7. Where does Selvi end up at the end of her story?

8. Why is Raju wearing the clothes he is in "Trail of the Green Blazer"?

9. What happens when the necklace is found in "Leela's Friend"?

10. Why is Rama's business insecure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two examples of the government and/or government programs present in "Malgudi Days." Discuss 1) what was going on in India at the time this novel takes place, and 2) how this may have affected Narayan's portrayal of the government and government programs in "Malgudi Days."

Essay Topic 2

Using direct evidence from the text, write a paper arguing that the short story "Selvi" does or does not fit in with the larger novel. Does its theme connect to the larger theme of "Malgudi Days"? Are the characters similar to other characters? Does the writing style and literary devices used reflect the rest of the text?

Essay Topic 3

Use at least 3 characters from "Malgudi Days" to present an argument showing what values Narayan holds most important in a person/character. Make sure to use direct quotations from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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