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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. What was Ayodhya like when Bharata returned to it?

2. How do humans win favors from gods in the Ramayana?

3. In whose name does Maricha appeal to Ravana, to leave Sita alone?

4. What is Ravana’s feeling about Rama’s name?

5. What is the importance of the golden hill Meru?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rama finally motivate Sugriva to start searching for Sita?

2. What was Ravana’s role in the birth of Rama?

3. How does Dasaratha describe Rama’s banishment as punishment for his own actions?

4. Describe the wedding of Rama and Sita.

5. How does Ravana defeat Jatayu and escape with Sita?

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

7. How did Agastya tame the upstart Vindhya Hills?

8. Describe Bharadwaja’s feast for Bharata and his party.

9. How does the Ramayana explain where it has its origin as a poem?

10. How does Sita allow herself to be abducted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you compare the Ramayana to a work of Western myth or religion, such as the Iliad (also about an abducted wife), the Odyssey (about a man’s wanderings) the Aeneid (about great battles) or the Bible (about a culture finding its religion)? Using examples from the text of the Ramayana and the text of a text you are familiar with, describe what kind of culture is encapsulated in the Ramayana.

Essay Topic 2

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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