September 24, 2002 Ethnic Experience Literature

Mr. Wang
Name:_________________________ Jasmine test #1

You will be graded both on the accuracy of your answers and the quality of your writing. This is a closed-book test.
You may not refer to your book. There are 128 possible points that you can earn on this test, so if you get everything
right, you earn 28 points of extra credit. If you don’t know the answer to a question, skip it. It may be difficult for you
to finish the entire test within the period. I am looking for detailed answers.

1. What is Jasmine’s attitude towards fate? Use at least one example from the book to support your answer. (15 pts)

2. Jasmine mentions a “clay pitcher” when discussing two characters: Mother Ripplemeyer and Pitaji (Jasmine’s
father). What does Mother Ripplemeyer have in common with Pitaji? Hint: “My father lived in a bunker.” (15
pts)

3. Name at least 3 different settings in this book. “America” does not count. (5 pts)
4. “Wylie would overkill. My mother was a sniper.” Explain the significance of this quote. Hint #1: It has something
to do with Jasmine’s birth. Hint #2: Wylie is an American woman. (10 pts)

5. What are the “Khalsa Lions”? (5 pts)

6. What is Bud Ripplemeyer’s relation to Jane? What is his job? How does he feel about farming? How does Darrel
Lutz feel about Bud? (10 pts)

7. How does Jasmine feel about technology? (5 pts)

8. Who is Masterji? (5 pts)

9. At one point in the story, a wild animal attempts to kill Jasmine, but fails. In the next chapter, a wild animal tries to
kill Jasmine’s father, Pitaji, and succeeds. What is the significance of this contrast? (15 pts)
10. Who is Prakash? What is his job? How does his life end? (10 pts)

11. “Beggars with broken bodies shoved alms bowls at suited men in automobiles. Shacks sprouted like toadstools
around high-rise office buildings. Camels loped past satellite dishes. Centuries coalesced as we picnicked.”
Explain what the narrator means when she says, “Centuries coalesced as we picnicked.” (15 pts)

12. What is “Vijh & Wife”? (5 pts)

Vocabulary (3 pts each)

coalesce oaf improvise disabuse perpetual

1. Sidon, whose intelligence and dexterity greatly exceeds that of a normal person, is certainly not a(n) ___________.

2. After Eric entered my life, I was never sad again. I was in a state of _________________________________ bliss.

3. I ___________________________________ Jenny of her misconception that she was allowed to sleep in my class.

4. Terry’s speech was so impeccably good that I couldn’t believe he __________________________ the whole thing.