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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. Where does Ila want to take the narrator where there are cheap retail shops run by Indians and Bangladeshis?

2. What month in 1940 does the narrator remember that Dan grew tired of trying to sleep on mattresses below the stairs?

3. Where was Kerry, the American art student who lived in the room next to the narrator in London, from?

4. Where do Ila and the narrator sleep on Christmas eve when they cannot go back to their lodgings?

5. Where did the narrator have a room when he came to London for a study fellowship?

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 Dan die in 1940?

4. After the narrator spent the night at May's after Ila's wedding, what did she fix him for breakfast and why did she not eat?

5. Why does Nick say that he left his job in Kuwait?

6. What happened between Tha'mma and the narrator's mother shortly after Tha'mma retired?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Foreshadowing is a method authors use to hint at events to come in a novel. How does the author use foreshadowing in the book? Does the use of foreshadowing create suspense?

Essay Topic 2

Imagery uses the five senses to help readers imagine concepts. Symbolism uses objects or ideas to present a concept. How does Barnett use imagery and symbols to represent and describe freedom?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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