Passage 1
Who tells Mita she is beautiful?
Somesh
Where does Mita live that feels too small to her?
A two room apartment.
What does the speaker want Mita to do when he says, “I want you to go to college”?
They want her to pursue higher education and choose a career.
Where is Mita lying at the beginning of the passage?
On the floor on a white sari.
Where does Mita plan to hide her American clothes?
Among Somesh‘s pants, at the bottom of her suitcase.
Why does Mita feel ashamed at the end?
Because she has become too westernized.
What career does Mita imagine when she pictures herself standing in front of “a classroom of smiling children?
A teacher
What literary device is used in the phrase, “the water…licked at the insides of my ears in welcome”?
Personification
Why are the people outside the room afraid to leave Mita alone?
They fear that she might harm herself.
It dives into the duty’s and clothes of a “good Indian wife”.
What detail shows Mita is already preparing to leaver her current life?
The packed suitcase.
What does Mita letting herself sink in the water reveal based off of the HTRLLP idea of Baptism?
That she is symbolically leaving her old life behind and choosing to live a different one.
What can readers assume happened to Mita at the end of the passage?
Mita has just lost her husband.
What does Mita’s guilt about kissing her husband suggest about cultural expectations?
It shows how traditional controls even private parts of her life.
What does the “American Dress” symbolize about Mita’s imagined future?
Her attempt to fit into an American, professional identity.
What activity does the narrator describe doing at the lake when she wants to be alone?
Swimming away from her friends and floating on her back.
How does the passage connect the theme of clothing to larger issues of self expression?
The white sari acts as a lens for understanding mita’s personal grief.
Why does Mita think she would not have felt this way ”back home”, and what does this reveal about her inner conflict?
America has changed her expectations, creating tension between her traditional values and desire for freedom.
What is the effect of the phrase, “faceless parade” when describing the store customer?
It emphasizes how repetitive and unfulfilling that life would be.
Using a psychological lens, what does Mita’s urge to “let go” suggest about her inner conflict?
It suggests a struggle with emotional exhaustion, isolation, and desire to escape.