View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what garment does Raza Hyder first wrap Bilquis?

2. What does the narrator say is Sufiya Zinobia's relation to Omar?

3. What sort of guests compose the majority of the girls' coming-out party?

4. What is intended by Bilal to be draped over Omar's neck after his 12th birthday?

5. Who has a powerful effect on Omar when seen through his telescope?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what idea do Raza and Bilquis put an undue amount of faith, and why is this a troublesome belief?

2. What characterizes Farah Zoroaster's life in Q after returning from her forced marriage to Eduardo Rodrigues?

3. How does Omar Khayyam describe himself to Iskander Harappa, as described at the end of Chapter 1?

4. How is Bilquis' father's business ruined?

5. Why are the children of the British colonials sent back to England after the age of eight to continue their educations?

6. Briefly describe why the narrator insists that his novel is not about a real Pakistan, and what would happen to (the story, not the actual book) it if it were.

7. Why is Raza Hyder's military victory so greatly lauded throughout Pakistan?

8. What are the circumstances surrounding the death of Mistri Yakoob Balloch?

9. How does Raza Hyder describe his courtship of Bilquis?

10. According to the opinion of the narrator, why does Eduardo deem that Omar must study to be a doctor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Develop a character analysis of Maulana Dawood in an analytical essay on the archetypal religious zealot. In what ways does Maulana Dawood contrast with the rest of the characters in the story? Do his positions and arguments seem reasonable, or are they mere rantings of a fanatic? Are any of Dawood's objections, arguments, or opinions valid even when and if they are not fully reasonable? How do his actions and opinions influence others in the story (consider characters in addition to Raza Hyder)? What is his ultimate significance to the whole of the story?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the story, there are many actions and sorts of behaviors that ought to cause shame in their actors and do cause shame in Sufiya Zinobia. These causes are usually not explicitly named as such. Thus, in a carefully developed analytical essay, present the primary causes of shame throughout the story and explain their significance to the major themes of the story:

1) Political instability;

2) The oppression of women;

3) Ignoring emotions and its consequences.

Essay Topic 3

Shame ends with an enormous, violent explosion. This explosion is very symbolic of the story as a whole. Without getting caught up too much in the details, explain how this symbolic explosion is a fitting end to the turmoil and conflict of the story. What various disturbances and struggles throughout the book are terminated by this explosion, both literally and as a symbol? How do the various characters and their actions contribute to the explosion's magnitude? How is the chain of events which leads up to the explosion started, and which characters are responsible for it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 950 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample