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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. Who plants the troubling idea in Kaikeyi’s mind?

2. What does Swayamprabha say Maya is master of?

3. Why does Rama kill Vali?

4. What age of the world are Viswamitra and Dasaratha living in?

5. What is Rama’s answer when Sita urges him to discard his war arrows?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Hanuman characterize the story of Rama and Sita to Jambavan?

2. Why does Dasaratha decide that he wants to see Rama made king, and what do his advisors say?

3. What kind of relationship do Sita and Ravana have, from their first meeting?

4. Describe Ravana’s origins.

5. What is Bharata’s response when he hears that Dasaratha is dead?

6. How did Agastya tame the upstart Vindhya Hills?

7. What is Sita’s response when she hears about Rama’s exile?

8. How did Ravana win the Battle of the Heaven?

9. Describe the history of Five-Apsarasa Lake.

10. What delays Rama in his search for Sita?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the most important plot points in the Ramayana. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course between other alternative and possible plots?

Essay Topic 2

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

Essay Topic 3

What does the Ramayana teach you about how to live? What kinds of problems does the Ramayana tell the reader how to solve? What kinds of questions would it not be very useful for?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 847 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample