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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. Why doesn't Ashoke explain how Gogol came about his name when he gives him the book by Nikoli Gogol?

2. How does Ashima's family keep in touch with her after Gogol's birth?

3. What does the man who lends Ashoke the book on the train tell him that he should do?

4. What does Gogol give his mother as a gift when his baby sister is born?

5. How do Gogol's parents explain his lack of an alternative identity to friends in India?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Gogol is six, what event changes in the Ganguli family?

2. Why does Ashoke choose the name Nikhil for Gogol when he begins school?

3. What did Ashoke swear to do during his long recovery from the injuries he received during a train wreck when he was a young man?

4. What does Ashoke think about while Ashima is in labor?

5. What job is Ashoke offered after finishing his college studies?

6. What does Gogol decide to do when he turns eighteen?

7. What happens when Gogol's train coming home from college is late?

8. At college after changing his name, how does Gogol react to being called by his new name?

9. Why doesn't Gogol look forward to his fourteenth birthday party?

10. How does Gogol feel about his family during visits home from college?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses unexpected events to change the direction of the story. One such event is Ashoke's death, but there are others. Cite at least three other examples of other such events and tell how they change the direction of the plot.

Essay Topic 2

The anger of second-generation immigrants who feel they are treated as second-class citizens is a theme in many novels. In this novel, the author uses the second-generation Indian immigrant Moushumi as an example of this anger. What happens in the novel that she sees as slights to her Indian heritage? How do these imagined slights affect her? How does her resulting anger affect her marriage to Gogol? Cite examples from the book to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Gogol's resistance to Indian traditions is a theme in this novel, but several times he return to those traditions. One time is after his father's death but there are others. Cite at least three times he returned willingly to his Indian traditions and what resulted from those choices. Do you think the author's decision to keep him coming back to those traditions helped or hindered the story? Support your answer with examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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