View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Aurora witness in the chapel?

2. What need does Moraes have to be candid about his parents' sex life?

3. What is the Reverend Oliver D'Aeth's physical problem?

4. What is Moraes' medical problem?

5. What does the argument between Flory and her son reveal to the reader?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Moor lament his life as he continues with his history of the family?

2. How does Aurora begin her art career?

3. Why are Camoens and Aires given fifteen year prison sentences?

4. What is the situation with Sammy Hazaré after Aurora's death?

5. What painting does Miranda cover with another after Aurora reacts negatively to the original?

6. Describe Flory's condition for giving Abraham the emeralds.

7. Explain the effect of Uma's efforts to convince Abraham and Aurora that she and Moor really do love one another.

8. What in Miranda's character seem to foreshadow serious problems to come?

9. What does the once-renowned private investigator, Dom Minto, find out about Uma?

10. How does Christina turn out as she grows into maturity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages Rushdie's literary gimmicks. Main points of your essay include:

(1) the odd way the da Gama family adds -o and -ofy to words that symbolize their quirkiness, (2) the rhyming phrases he uses generally to belittle certain characters, (3) long hyphenated phrases to make for more powerful adjectives. Give specific examples of each in your essay.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages on Rushdie's take on organized religion. Find in the novel explicit references to Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and show how Rushdie discounts all of them as divisive and something to be avoided.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages on Uma as an Example of the Classic Villainess. Main points of your essay include:

(1) deception, not looking like a villain, (2) scheming, making careful plans, and (3) ultimately being undone by her own schemes.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 697 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample