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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Lakshmi do in order to escape the old man who attempts to rape her after she's first arrived at Happiness House?
(a) She bites his tongue.
(b) She bites his hand.
(c) She kicks him in the groin.
(d) She slaps his face.

2. Through how many villages does Lakshmi say she has traveled with Auntie in the beginning of "A New World"?
(a) 5.
(b) 9.
(c) 7.
(d) 3.

3. What name has Lakshmi given to "the ugly one" among her cucumbers in "Confession"?
(a) Naazma.
(b) Bajai.
(c) Anita.
(d) Shahanna.

4. What color does Lakshmi describe her mother's hair as in "Something Beautiful"?
(a) "Dark auburn."
(b) "Corn-yellow."
(c) "Silvery gray."
(d) "Crow-black."

5. What color does Lakshmi describe the huts of her village in "Something Beautiful"?
(a) Yellow.
(b) Red.
(c) Orange.
(d) Brown.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Lakshmi's mother denote the years of how old she and Lakshmi are in "Another Calendar"?

2. Who is the boy that Lakshmi says she is promised to marry in "Before Gita Left"?

3. What kind of roof does Lakshmi's family have on their hut in the beginning of the novel?

4. In "Announcing the Dry Season," the narrator says, "The wind that blows up from the plains is called" what?

5. What is the name of the dark-skinned girl that is kind to Lakshmi when she arrives at Happiness House?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the impact of Lakshmi's journey with Auntie on her perception of her surroundings and home. Why do you think Lakshmi is taken on this journey in the manner she is taken?

2. What is symbolized and foreshadowed by the woman who has been publicly shamed when Lakshmi gets off the train in India?

3. How is irony employed as a significant literary device in Sections 1 and 2 of the novel?

4. Why does Lakshmi describe her first experiences of her journey to be "inauspicious" in "An Inauspicious Start"?

5. What does a tin roof symbolize for Lakshmi in the novel?

6. How is Lakshmi punished when she bites the old man in "The Old Man"?

7. How does Lakshmi describe her village's religious beliefs in "Something Beautiful"?

8. How are the themes of corruption and gender inequality illustrated in Section 2 of the narrative?

9. What are the instructions for womanhood that Ama relates to Lakshmi in "Everything I Need to Know"?

10. What possessions does Lakshmi describe in "What I Carry"?

(see the answer keys)

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