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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 incriminating evidence does Raza Hyder find in his mentally-retarded daughter's room?

2. Who kills Iskander Harappa?

3. What concept does Sufiya Zinobia know about but does not understand?

4. Which military man arrives to arrest Iskander Harappa when the coup is pulled off?

5. Which of the following is NOT used as an analogy for sex by the Hyder women preparing Naveed for her wedding?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the Pakistani man in London, referred to by the narrator at the beginning of Chapter 7, murder his own daughter?

2. How does Iskander Harappa finally die?

3. What ethereal conflict besets the mind of Raza Hyder during his presidency?

4. Why does Captain Talvar Ulhaq take great risk to steal Naveed Hyder from her arranged marriage to Haroun Harappa?

5. How does Iskander Harappa rise to power?

6. How does Raza Hyder restore the morale of the deflated Pakistani army?

7. What is the consequence of Maulana Dawood's quest against the selling and eating of shellfish in Karachi?

8. How do the 18 shawls embroidered by Rani over the six years of home imprisonment depict the life of Iskander Harappa?

9. What is revealed by Rani Harappa's uncovering of the deceased Iskander's face?

10. How do Omar and Raza escape the residence of the C-in-C and the house arrest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine, in a carefully thought-out analytical essay, the usage of the motif of narrative asides employed by the author throughout the book. What do these asides accomplish? How do they add to the story? In what regard does the author use them to the story's benefit? Do they serve any purpose beyond enhancing the imagery and method of the story's delivery?

Essay Topic 2

In a carefully developed essay, discuss the importance of catharsis of emotions and how the neglect of catharsis leads to calamity, as is demonstrated in Shame. What is catharsis? Why is it important? What happens when emotions are not acknowledged? What happens to the reactions that ought to occur? Where do they go? How do they transfer from one person to another?

Essay Topic 3

Compose an insightful essay on the character of Raza Hyder. As one of the principal protagonists of the story's events, what is Raza's overall significance to the story and its main themes? What are his primary character traits and in what actions do they show themselves? Does he in any way change over the course of the story? How do the other characters think of him and act towards him throughout the story? In what ways does he represent universal human nature? Is his character one of virtue? If so, in what ways, and if not, in what ways?

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