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 is Ganesha?

2. How does Flory die?

3. Who makes a pilgrimage to Malgudi on the river Sarayu, to see the great Mahatma Gandhi?

4. What does Aurora witness in the chapel?

5. How does Epifania classify the renovated chapel?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What conflict arose in Camoens when he went to hear Mahatma Gandhi?

3. Why has Aurora been up to so much mischief in the house late at night?

4. How does Vasco Miranda come into the lives of the Zogoiby family?

5. How does Moor refer to the dysfunction of his family?

6. Why does Epifania collude with her daughters-in-law?

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

8. How do Aurora and Moor react to the presence of Uma?

9. Who comes to the rescue when Aires is physically abusing the servants over lost artifacts?

10. As Aurora's popularity wanes, what does she do with her life?

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 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 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages entitled, Salman Rushdie's Love Affair with Words. Divide your essay into three parts as follows:

(1) Rushdie's use of alliteration and onomatopoeia. (2) Rushdie's use of strings of hyphenated words to form nouns or adjectives. (3) Rushdie's coining of words for special effect. Be sure to quote passages from the novel to support your points.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages on Rushdie's use of references to literature and incorporation of actual history in his novel. Use as main points:

(1) examples of various literary quotes or adaptations (your choice), (2) actual events such as the rally with Gandhi and the imprisonment of Nehru, and (3) finally the way he works the 1993 bombings into the story.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 685 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample