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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Rao still able to do?

2. Who is Naga?

3. What kinds of crimes is the landlord accused of doing?

4. What has been Ayah's job for 20 years or so?

5. What has happened to Sambu's father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose 3 examples of characters acting in a way that is not typical for them (such as Dr. Raman lying to his friend Gopal about his medical condition). Why does each character deviate from his or her usual behavior? What does the reader learn about each character as a result of this change? Make sure you use specific examples from the text when discussing each character.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 284 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample