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 Stephen ask for in exchange for his lesson?

2. What does Jaya's mother tell her when she calls home in Chapter 27?

3. What is Amisha writing about at the beginning of Chapter 7?

4. Why do Ravi and Bina spend the night at Amisha's in Chapter 19?

5. What does Neema write about in her story?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the head teacher, Miss Roberts, treat Amisha?

2. What does Jaya see in the road when she takes a taxi to her grandfather's village?

3. When does Amisha meet Deepak?

4. What does Jaya announce to her mother in Chapter 27?

5. How does Amisha tell Stephen that Indians celebrate Navaratri?

6. Why did Jaya's mother take her bike away when Jaya was a child?

7. What is the first story of Neema's that Amisha reads?

8. What are the contents of Amisha's Christmas gift to Stephen?

9. What does Stephen propose to Amisha when he comes to her home for the first time?

10. What does Ravi tell Jaya about the ownership of the school and the mill?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

This novel employs both third-person narration (in Amisha and Ravi's sections) as well as first-person narration (in Jaya's sections). Write an essay in which you compare and contrast these narrative tones. Are they more similar or more different? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Jaya experiences a host of emotions throughout the novel. Write an essay detailing what some of these emotions are as well as examining how they affect Jaya's character. Use evidence from the text to support your observations.

Essay Topic 3

The story is told from Amisha, Jaya, and Ravi's perspectives Analyze the author’s choice to tell the story from these points of view. How does viewing the events from these various point of view affect the plot?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 624 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample