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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 does Rama say really knows life?What gossip darkens Sita’s image in Rama’s eye?

2. What had Narayana done to be cursed with one day losing his own wife?

3. What is in the storeroom in Lanka, which Vibhishana shows Hanuman?

4. What form does Hanuman take when he is searching Lanka for Sita?

5. Who is NOT killed by Indrajit?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe General Prahasta’s chariot.

2. Explain Vibhishana’s change of heart regarding Ravana.

3. Describe the origins of the Ramayana.

4. How do Rama and Samudra and Ocean Lord resolve the question of the bridge to Lanka?

5. How does Rama kill Khumbakarna?

6. What happens to Queen Mandodari after Ravana’s death?

7. What is the outcome of Ravana’s conversation with time?

8. How does Indrajit capture Hanuman, and how does Hanuman get free?

9. Describe Rama and Sita’s disappearance from the earth.

10. Describe the treasure room Vibhishana shows Hanuman.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate your own reading of the Ramayana—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 2

What does the Ramayana tell the reader about the relations between men and women, husbands and wives? Using examples from the text, describe the poem’s lessons for relations between the sexes.

Essay Topic 3

What is the primary purpose of the Ramayana? What kinds of purposes does it attempt to serve—explaining the history of the world, describing the right way to live, etc. Using examples from the text, propose one mode that is most important. Be sure to say why the others are not as important.

(see the answer keys)

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