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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 is Sai's reaction upon watching the police strip the cook of his pride?

2. According to Sai, why can't Gyan find a decent job?

3. Why does the judge hate the rainy season?

4. Besides being with Sai, how does Gyan want to occupy his time?

5. The first time Biju runs into Saeed after the closing of the bakery, what type of girl has Saeed married?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the elaborate Christmas celebration in chapter 25?

2. What effect does Saeed Saeed have on Biju in chapter 14?

3. In chapter 26, why does Gyan begin regretting the time he spent with Sai as he becomes part of the liberation?

4. In chapter 27, in what ways do Sai and Gyan view Christmas differently?

5. In chapter 22, what does it tell us about Biju when he leaves his job at Brigitte's and begins working at the Ghandi Cafe?

6. How are the romance and the civil unrest in chapter 20 presented in a similar way?

7. In chapter 29, why does Gyan betray Sai?

8. In chapter 4, why do Sai and the cook justify the manner in which the police treated the cook?

9. In chapter 10, why do you think Biju is the only immigrant he knows who seriously considers returning home one day?

10. In chapter 9, in what way is Lola portrayed as a hypocrite?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think the cook remains with the judge, even though the judge is distant and treats him unkindly? Why do you think the cook lies about being mistreated, rather than trying to do something about it? Do you think he would have remained with the judge if Sai had never come to stay with them? What role does Sai play in the cook's life?

Essay Topic 2

Do Sai and Gyan's recognition of a common ancestral connection to the British bring them closer together, push them farther apart, or do both at different times? Are these similarities equally important to Sai and Gyan? Why are their connections to the British so important, so troublesome, or both?

Essay Topic 3

When Biju is scammed into paying to travel to Kathmandu for a training session, he witnesses a butcher calling a goat by the worst swear words imaginable before killing it. How do the butcher's actions symbolize those of the scammers? In what way is the scam itself complicated and ritualized, and how is the end result the same for Biju as it is for the goat? Why do you think the author chose a goat, as opposed to another type of animal?

(see the answer keys)

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