View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ashima do with most of the gifts Gogol gets at his second birthday party?

2. Why does Gogol's father take him to his first day of kindergarten?

3. How do Ashoke and Ashima give in to American customs?

4. What does Ashoke remember when he and Ashima bring Gogol home?

5. Who does Gogol meet on a train coming home from school during his freshman year in college?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doesn't the school call Gogol by the name Nikhil?

2. Why don't Ashima and Ashoke have a name picked out for their baby?

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

4. What do the Ganguli family do during Ashoke's sabbatical?

5. Why aren't Ashoke and Ashima concerned that they don't have a name picked out before the birth of their child?

6. How do Ashima and Ashoke feel about Ruth when they learn of their son's girlfriend?

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

8. Why doesn't Ashima's grandmother name their grandchild as Ashima and Ashoke requested?

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

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

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

Gogol and Moushumi ended up divorcing. Tell why this happened and then follow the problems in the marriage that were there from the beginning. Be sure to include those problems that were directly related to the fact that they were both second-generation Indian immigrants. Do you think the author succeeded in separating the problems that were unique to immigrants from those that can be found in any marriage in America today? Why or why not? Cite examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

The author chooses to use a common third-person voice for the narrative, but tells the story as if in the present. This is not common in literature. Tell whether you think this works well for this story. Tell why or why not and support you case by citing examples from the book that you feel are best told this way or that would be better told differently.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 737 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample