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

2. What do Noni and Lola give as Christmas gifts?

3. Where does Sai spend Christmas?

4. What effect does the rainy season have on the cook?

5. What happened between the judge and his wife after these initial problems?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the judge's house like the judge himself?

2. Why is Jemu's reaction to his wife's going through his things in chapter 28 so severe that he rapes her?

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

4. In chapter 27, why does Sai have so much trouble relating to Gyan's ideas about a Gorkha homeland?

5. In chapter 23, what do Sai and Gyan discover they have in common?

6. In chapter 11, what do we learn about Indian servants' preferences for employers?

7. What effect does Gyan have on Sai when they first meet in chapter 13?

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

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

10. In chapter 21, how do Noni and Lola's views of the Nepalese liberation movement differ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sai's unusual family life and relationships influence her in specific ways. Which characters do you think have most shaped the person she is today? Do you think she would be different if she had been raised in a traditional Indian family with a mother and father and attended a regular school? If so, how would this impact her character, her behavior, her relationships, and the choices she makes?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Sai is constantly arguing with Gyan over his accusations about her values and behaviors. How do Sai's perceptions of herself differ from Gyan's perceptions of her? To what factors can we attribute these differences in perception?

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