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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. When did the narrator's father become General Manager of his firm?

2. What day of the week did May fast?

3. Where was Francesca sent to an interment camp in 1940?

4. What is the narrator wearing when he waks from Charing Cross to Stockwell and Ila is disgusted by his clothes?

5. How old was Tha'mma when she retired from teaching?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Ila's parents arrange for the present they got her and Nick for their wedding?

2. What does Nick do for Ila and her housemates?

3. How did Mike die?

4. Where did May sleep in her flat and why?

5. Why was Ila upset when she and the narrator met one last time before he returned to Delhi?

6. Why was the narrator late for the wedding dinner for Ila and Nick?

7. What did Tridib think of May when he saw her as a baby?

8. What is Brick Lane like when the narrator visits with Nick and Ila?

9. Why does Ila think there is a kind of heroism in the deaths of Alan and Dan?

10. How did Dan die in 1940?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ila tells the narrator a story when they play house. What story does Ila tell the narrator when they play house under a very large table? Why is the story an allegory?

Essay Topic 2

Cliffhangers are a literary device that leave readers wondering what will happen next. How does the author use cliffhangers in the novel? How do cliffhangers create suspense?

Essay Topic 3

The author does not tell the story in chronological order. How does the author use a non-linear narrative to relate the story? How does that affect what readers know about characters and events?

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