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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 kind of swimming pool did Anjum decide to build in Chapter 10?

2. Who was the popular university lecturer that was killed in the massacre in which Miss Jebeen died?

3. What does the narrator say that Jainab and Saddam had turned the graveyard into in Chapter 10 (405)?

4. What were Miss Jebeen and her mother watching from their balcony in the flashback in Chapter 9?

5. At the Jannat Guest House, who taught classes in arithmetic, drawing, computer graphics, and "eccentricy" (403) in Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Tilo's mother described? How did Tilo feel about her mother?

2. What did Naga ask Tilo about Commander Gulrez after they were released in Chapter 8? What did she reply?

3. How is the theme of gender expectations explored in Chapter 10?

4. How is Miss Jebeen the Second's mother's pregnancy described in her letter?

5. What story did Musa recall telling his daughter in Chapter 9? What was Musa doing as he recalled this memory?

6. What is Tilo's connection to the baby that appeared in the streets?

7. How does the narrator describe Tilo's act of leaving Naga in Chapter 8? For how long were they married?

8. What did Biplab Dasgupta ask Musa about Amrik Singh in Chapter 11? How did Musa reply?

9. What does ACP Pinky do to Tilo in Chapter 9? Why?

10. What is included in Tilo's notebook that she examined in Chapter 8? Why did Musa have this notebook?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the narrative style of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. From what narrative point of view is the novel related? Are there changes from this narrative style? Where and why? Why does the author apply this approach?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of Biplab Dasgupta. Why do you think that this is the only character who has a first-person narrative? How does Biplab Dasgupta further the plot of the novel? What becomes of him by the end of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Tilo in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Is Tilo a protagonist or antagonist? Why? What is revealed of Tilo's backstory and her family? What do Tilo's actions reveal about her character?

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