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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. Rama says that he will fight Ravana but not whom?

3. When is the demon army most powerful?

4. Who does Garuda send to help Sita?

5. What is on the throne when Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Vibhishana defect from Ravana?

2. What happens to Sardula and Sarana?

3. What advice does Khumbakarna give Ravana before he goes to fight?

4. Describe the treasure room Vibhishana shows Hanuman.

5. What happens after Hanuman’s tail is lit on fire?

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

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

8. Describe Rama and Sita’s return to Ayodhya.

9. Describe the chariot Pushpaka.

10. How did Mainaka come to be at the bottom of the sea?

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

Would you recommend the Ramayana? For what purposes would you recommend the Ramayana, and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 921 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample