Fact Check 1
What is the temporary matter that will affect the characters in a minor way?
Nightly power outage for electrical repairs
What major event happened to Shoba and Shukumar six months earlier?
Their first baby was born dead.
What are the names of the two main characters?
Shoba (show - buh) and Shukumar (shoe - koo - mar)
What does Shukumar envy about Shoba’s job?
He envies the specificity of her job - his work as a graduate student/teacher is elusive and abstract
How long have Shoba and Shukumar lived in their current house?
Three years
How has Shukumar’s daily routine changed since the baby died?
He stays in the house, sleeps until noon, has become very passive and inactive.
Where was Shukumar when Shoba went into labor?
He was out of town at a conference
How has Shoba’s daily routine changed since the baby died?
She has taken on extra hours at work, additional projects, stays out more. She's become more active.
What does Shoba still leave for Shukumar each morning before she goes to work?
A coffee cup and some leftover coffee
What examples show that Shukumar and Shoba have become emotionally and physically distant from one another?
They avoid each other in their home, spending as much as possible on separate floors. She no longer looks into his eyes and smiles. They are very rarely intimate. "He had believed it would pass" (3) suggesting that their distance is lingering and settling in.