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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. Where does Lakshmi go for her period of confinement after her first menstruation?
(a) The basement.
(b) The attic.
(c) The church.
(d) The goat shed.

2. 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 slaps his face.
(b) She kicks him in the groin.
(c) She bites his tongue.
(d) She bites his hand.

3. What does Lakshmi describe brushing her teeth with in "The New Student"?
(a) A twig from a neem tree.
(b) A twig from a willow tree.
(c) A toothbrush.
(d) A twig from a birch tree.

4. Who is Lakshmi's friend who has gone to work as a maid in the city to support her family?
(a) Bimla.
(b) Nari.
(c) Gita.
(d) Ama.

5. What does Lakshmi describe rubbing for good luck in "Before Gita Left"?
(a) Her friend's hair.
(b) The notch in the school bench.
(c) A rabbit.
(d) A rough patch in the clay of her hut.

Short Answer Questions

1. How much money does Lakshmi's stepfather ask for Lakshmi when he sells her at Bajai Sita's store in "A Trade"?

2. What has been done to the woman that Uncle Husband says has been punished for running away from her husband in "Disgraced"?

3. How old does Lakshmi describe her mother as in "Another Calendar"?

4. What does Lakshmi describe all the houses having like the one in Gita's hut in "Train"?

5. What does Mumtaz do to coerce Lakshmi into being with men after beating her for three days?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are sons and daughters compared to in "The Difference between a Son and a Daughter"?

2. Who is Gita? What is Lakshmi's relationship with Gita in the narrative?

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

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

5. How does Lakshmi describe her journey in "A New World"?

6. How does Lakshmi come to Happiness House? What is the reality of Lakshmi's situation when she arrives?

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

8. What takes place in "A Trade"? What is the amount of money that is settled upon?

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

10. Who is Lakshmi promised to marry when she comes of age? Why does she not marry this character?

(see the answer keys)

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