Name That Tune
Symbolically Speaking
I'll Be With You Shortly
Done With Style
Truth or Consequences
100
Who says: “I’ve been looking for an apartment and I’ve found one”
Who is: Shobu revealing her real plan to Shukumar
100
What is the symbolism of the birthday candles in “A Temporary Matter”?
Tragic loss of the light of their marriage; the birthday they’ll never celebrate for their stillborn baby, and a tiny bit of hope that the marriage can be rekindled. An ironic element; Shoba is prepared for everything except the loss of a baby or a power outage. Shukumar expresses surprise that she doesn't have emergency candles on hand.
100
Why are the lights out in “A Temporary Matter”?
The electric company is fixing a break, so it is a planned interruption of power.
100
Which device is on display?
The fact that early in the story Mrs. Das says, “I’m not coming. Anyway, those monkeys give me the creeps”
Classic foreshadowing of the monkey attack at the end
100
True or false, Shoba is a professor at her husband's college?
False; she is a professional editor
200
Who says:
"Well, for example, you could tell the doctor that the pain felt like a burning, not straw. The patient would never know what you told the doctor.”
Mr. Kapasi in “The Interpreter of Maladies”
200
What is the symbolism of the key on a string around Eliot’s neck at the end of Mrs. Sen’s?
Being tied to home, enchained by loneliness, the disconnect between his mother and him, and the fact that no doors really open to him. He's locked into cold, sterile, dispiriting space.
200
What are the “hanuman” in “Interpreter of Maladies”?
Monkeys
200
Given the enormity of their losses, this statement about Shoba and Shumar is “They wept together for the things they now knew.”
classic understatement
200
True or false, Mr. and Mrs. Das were both born in the US?
True. Their connection to India is distant and they are true tourists in every sense of the word.
300
Who says:
"It means loving someone you don’t know.”
Rohin defines the word "sexy" in the story of the same title.
300
What is the symbolism of the moon in “ The Third and Final Continent”?
Something miraculous happening far away that echoes the speaker and Mala’s journey. How history shapes us.The idea that everyone in the world was watching the moon in the very same moment. It's a symbol of universal connection and excitement.
300
Which are the only boarders Mrs. Croft will accept?
Boys from Harvard and MIT (Tech)
300
A mass of snowy hair was arranged like a small sack on top of her head.” (Mrs. Croft)
Simile
300
True or false, Dev’s wife is unattractive, a detail that explains why he is having an affair.
False; his wife is compared to Madhuri Dixit, the most beautiful actress in India; she was named the most beautiful woman in the world the year this collection came out.
400
Who says:
"Could I drive all the way to Calcutta? How long would that take…Ten thousand miles, at fifty miles per hour.”
Mrs. Sen to Eliot
400
What is the symbolism of the fish in “Mrs. Sen’s”?
It represents her hunger to swim away back to India; the fish is the "taste" of home and meals she loves to prepare; there is a hint of the idiom "like a fish out of water" for she cannot acculturate to the US and her new home. It also symbolizes human kindness and connectivity. The fishmonger goes out of his way to save a good fish for her and calls when he has a good catch.
400
Where does the speaker in Third and Final Continent take his son?
To see Mrs. Croft’s house on Mass Ave.
400
What famous historical event is alluded to throughout The Third and Final Continent?
The moon landing
400
True or false, Mrs. Croft is 103 years old?
True and astonishing; she was born in 1866, just two years after the Civil War ended.
500
Who says: "There’s an American flag on the moon, boy!”
Who is "Mrs. Croft"
500
What is the symbolism of Twinkle's name?
Like her name, Twinkle is bright and starry. She is imaginative and glows with energy. Like the nursery rhyme, she is young for her age. She shines and pulses with energy.
500
What do the man and Mrs. Croft both eat in The Third and Final Continent
He eats cornflakes; she eats soup
500
"Yes! Every day is like a treasure hunt. It's too good. God only knows what else we'll find, no pun intended." --- This Blessed House
A simile, and despite the denial, a pun.
500
True or false, the man’s mother in The Third and Final Continent has died of cancer?
False: she’s gone insane from the grief of losing his father.