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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. Where do the Smalleys usually eat?

2. What does Joseph do with the lawn mower?

3. With whom did Mr. Bhoolabhoy have an affair?

4. When Ibrahim takes Bloxsaw to the coffee shop, who does he see there?

5. How long does Ibrahim tell Joseph that the Smalleys have been in India?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the reader know that Tusker was reading the letter when he died?

2. Why do you think Joseph left Rampur and the sisters?

3. Describe the incident on the train. What was the origin of the violence?

4. What are the issues for Lucy and Ibrahim in hiring a new mali?

5. Why do you think Minnie is sitting behind a curtain to eat her meal?

6. Why do Mr. Bhoolabhoy and Tusker get along? Why does Mr. Bhoolabhoy like Tusker? What does Tusker talk about that fascinates him so?

7. What did Ibrahim do to care for Tusker through the night the first time Tusker fell ill?

8. What does it say about Tusker and Lucy's ability to communicate when neither of them acknowledges the new mali?

9. What does Mr. Bhoolabhoy think of Lucy? How does he view her? Do you think Lucy has any idea of how others view her?

10. How did Tusker mark Lucy in India as a woman who had to work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The reader wonders from the beginning of the novel about Tusker's name. How did Tusker get his name? Describe the two different possible stories. Which story describes Tusker's character more fully? Which story tells us something that we would have never guessed about Tusker?

Essay Topic 2

Lucy's description of the raising of the flag of India is very emotional. Why did Lucy and Tusker feel emotional at this site? Were they aware that their lives were going to change as much as they did? They had not connected in years, but did in this moment. Why? What did they have in common?

Essay Topic 3

How does Ibrahim describe the family that his father worked for? What happened when they returned to England in 1947? What happened when his father asked about employment for his son? Why do you think this was the outcome?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 905 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample