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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. Which of the following does Tahera smell in her favorite curry?

2. Which of the following degrees does Imam Zia hold?

3. Which of the following nicknames does Nafeesa have for Tahera?

4. In which of the following does Leigh live?

5. To which of the following does Arshad compare Seema?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Seema visits Bill at the home they had shared, she notes attempting to conceal her arrival. How does she make the attempt, and why ?

2. Why does Ishraaq’s face not appear on the ultrasound taken during Seema’s prenatal appointment?

3. What reservations does Tahera initially have about accepting guardianship of Ishraaq?

4. To what does Naeemullah ascribe his desire to wed Nafeesa?

5. What message does Seema interpret from Tahera’s conduct on her arrival at the airport?

6. Tahera rebukes herself for a thought she has on the evening she arrives in San Francisco; what is that thought?

7. For what purposes does Imam Zia seek to develop the area surrounding his mosque?

8. Why does Seema note she and Tahera used to walk to school hand in hand?

9. How does Nafeesa prepare special chai for her daughters?

10. For what reason does Ismail strike Arshad?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the primary narrator. How might the novel have differed were the narrator and his family other than Southeast Asian? Why would it be different in such ways?

Essay Topic 2

Similarly, consider the chronology of the novel. How might the novel have differed were it set in another span of years? For one such seven-year span, in what ways would the novel have differed from its current form, and why would it have differed in those ways?

Essay Topic 3

Similarly, the lengths of chapters influence reading. What pattern of chapter-length is present in the novel, if any? What effect does the length of chapters have on the reading? How is the effect achieved?

(see the answer keys)

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