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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. What habit of Indian people in this time period was the basis of a derogatory description used by the British soldiers?

2. What British brand of cigarettes do Bakha and his friends smoke?

3. What are outcastes such as Bakha supposed to do when they are walking near caste Hindus in town?

4. When the priest claims to have been "defiled by contact," what does Bakha assume (51)?

5. What does context suggest is the correct interpretation of the narrator's description of the temple's "florid exuberance" (46)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What seems ironic to Bakha when he thinks about the reason that schools will not admit outcaste students?

2. Describe the conditions in which Bakha's family lives.

3. Describe Bakha's morning before he leaves his family's house.

4. When Bakha has the urge to run away from the man yelling at him in the street, why does he feel he cannot run?

5. What does the description of the town as Bakha enters it emphasize, and how does this foreshadow what will happen later, when Bakha bumps into someone?

6. Describe Bakha's initial reaction to the man who accuses him of bumping him on the street.

7. Why is the man that Bakha bumps into in the street so angry?

8. What rhetorical purpose is served by the long passage in which Pundit Kali Nath thinks about all of the foods he has recently eaten?

9. Which habits of Indian people does Bakha find crude and unsophisticated?

10. Describe the job that Bakha does after he has cleaned all of the latrines twice.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

You have written briefly about one passage of Untouchable that contains symbolism related to fire. Now, expand the scope of your analysis to include the entire text of the novel. What other references to fire, heat, and burning can you find? Would you include the heat from the sun in this category, or is there good reason to exclude it? How do the further references to fire, heat, and burning expand your understanding of the symbolism? What does the symbolism convey to the reader about Bakha and the novel's meaning? Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Consider the symbol of the solar topee in conjunction with the text's references to heat, fire, and sun. Write an essay in which you analyze the solar topee as a part of a textual motif regarding how authority is misused to shield people from accountability for their inhumane actions. Offer both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text in support of your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you consider the significance of including Gandhi as a character in Untouchable while omitting any mention of B. R. Ambedkar. Do you think it is possible that Anand was unaware of Ambedkar? If so, what does this say about Anand's devotion to the cause of Scheduled Caste people? How does this relate to questions about representation? If Anand was aware of Ambedkar, what might his motivations have been for including Gandhi instead of Ambedkar? How does this relate to questions about audience? How does this choice impact the novel's theme? Consider these questions at minimum as you advance and defend your claim.

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