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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. How does Maxine treat Gogol's parents when they visit on their way to New Hampshire?

2. What had Moushumi's family done to find her a husband?

3. How does Gogol meet Maxine?

4. What do Moushumi and Gogol do during their free time after they are husband and wife?

5. How does Gogol feel when he and Moushumi return from Paris to America and attend parties?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Gogol feel about Maxine's family?

2. After Gogol breaks off his relationship with Maxine, who does his mother introduce him to?

3. What happens the day after Gogol meets a girl named Maxine?

4. Why does Gogol agree to visit his family when he'd rather go to New Hampshire with Maxine's family?

5. What does Ashima do by herself with her husband in Ohio?

6. How does Gogol plan to present Moushumi with the tickets?

7. What does Moushumi reveal about her past that she finds humiliating?

8. How do Gogol and Mushumi react to one another after all this time?

9. When bothers Gogol after he and Moushumi return to New York after a trip to Paris?

10. What do Gogol and Moushumi have in common when they first meet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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

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.

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