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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 about Rima's marriage distresses Nitin?

2. Kama is the god of ______.

3. What is the reason for the calmness of Tariq Mia's village?

4. Why should the sisters not walk alone?

5. What do the Vano believe is special about Nitin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does the narrator understand the human heart?

2. What is the narrator's dilemma with bringing Nitin back to the guesthouse after he's released from the hospital.

3. What is the role of the Narmada river in Chapter 5?

4. Why is "endurance" a necessary part of a pilgrimage to the Narmada?

5. How does Ashok's father feel about him becoming a monk?

6. What are the benefits of being a courtesan?

7. What are the requirements of being a Jain monk?

8. What is Dr. Mitra's diagnosis for Nitin?

9. Why does Nitin create a new persona for managing the tea estate?

10. What is the significance of the guns in Chapter 11?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the story of the Naga Baba offer to the book as a whole?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the course of change our narrator experiences: stretch from before the beginning of "A River Sutra" to the end, reasons for change, and where we leave him at the end.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss "immortality" in "A River Sutra". What role does it have? Which characters does it affect, and in what ways? Do all characters share the same beliefs about immortality? Why or why not?

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