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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 word in Chapter 1 refers to an evening of entertainment poetry or concert of Indian classical music?

2. What does the narrator say the poor villagers were treated as in the opening of Chapter 3?

3. What object belonging to the mother is described as touching the baby's skin in Chapter 6?

4. What religious conversion did Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed make upon arriving in Delhi?

5. Nimmo Gorakpuri told Aftab in Chapter 2 that God created creatures like them because he wanted to create "a living creature that is incapable of" (27) what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the structure differ in Chapter 6 from the rest of the narrative? What is this chapter comprised of?

2. What information is related in the document from the social worker in Clovis, California that Biplab Dasgupta found in Chapter 7?

3. What exchange takes place between Anjum and the blind imam in Chapter 1? What does Anjum realize from this exchange?

4. What does the story of Laila and Majnu signify? What is this story compared to in Chapter 1?

5. What animals are described in the Prologue? What is their connection to the story?

6. What led to Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed's execution? How was he killed?

7. What is signfificant about Zakir Mian's presence in Chapter 2?

8. How are the photographs described that Biplab Dasgupta first observed in Tilo's apartment in Chapter 7?

9. How is the exchange at the house described with Saddam, Ishrat, and the mysterious woman?

10. What is the female protagonist's relationship to the English-speaking man in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of Amrik Singh in the narrative of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. How do Singh's actions contribute to the development of the plot? Is Singh a protagonist or an antagonist? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the historical context of the novel. What time periods are covered in the course of the narrative? What major events in India and globally are discussed? What statements do you think the author is making about these historical events and circumstances?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss elements of animal symbolism in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. What are some of the animals that the author focuses on in the Prologue and in the final chapter? What do these animals symbolize to you? What is their purpose in the story?

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