The Namesake - QUOTES
Quiz by Scott Darnell
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- Q1
“Pack a pillow and blanket and see as much of the world as you can. You will not regret it.” Chapter 1
Ashoke and Ashima prepare to explore the world and travel to America.
The quote demonstrates how tired and exhausted Ashoke is.
There is no IKEA in India, so Ashoke needs to make sure that his wife has all her comfort objects.
The pillow and blanket symbolise the migration, security and comfort of the Ganguli's homeland.
30s - Q2
“My grandfather says that's what books are for," Ashoke said, using the opportunity to open the volume in his hands.
Finish the rest of the quote as said by Ashoke in Chapter 1.
"To travel is like going on a plane but not a train."
"To travel without moving an inch.”
"To travel without your passport is not good."
"To travel without moving an centimetre."
30s - Q3
“And then the young woman tells her that the patient, Ashoke Ganguli, her husband, has expired. Expired. A word used for library cards, for magazine subscriptions. ”
This quote refers to Ashoke's passport running out of validity.
falsetrueTrue or False30s - Q4
“And then the young woman tells her that the patient, Ashoke Ganguli, her husband, has expired. Expired. A word used for library cards, for magazine subscriptions. ”
'Expired' symbolises Ashoke's death.
Lahiri conveys Ashoke's death .
A young woman has died at the hospital.
Ashoke has passed away.
30s - Q5
In chapter 7, we learn that for Ashima, Ashoke is everything: husband, father to her two children. He is the person who organized things around the home, performed the chores, earned the majority of the family’s income. Why is the description of his death so dramatic and heart-rendering: "Ashoke Ganguli, her husband, has expired. Expired."
Ashoke is the reason that Ashima likes peanut butter and adapts the the American way of cooking. When his life 'expires', she cannot handle the fact that she will have to cook with white rice.
Ashoke is the reason that Ashima was left alone to suffer in America, for she followed her husband out of a sense of a wife’s duty, even though she wanted to return to India.
Ashoke is the reason that Ashima has come to the United States in the first place, for she followed her husband out of a sense of a wife’s duty, even though she was terrified of leaving Calcutta.
Ashoke helped the family to adapt to America and to give them a sense of identity in a foreign. It is thanks to Ashoke's 'expiration' that Gogol can feel settled and at home, whilst Ashima continues to struggle.
300s - Q6
Categorise the portrayal of Ashima based on the following quote:
“And then the young woman tells her that the patient, Ashoke Ganguli, her husband, has expired. Expired. A word used for library cards, for magazine subscriptions. ”
Users sort answers between categoriesSorting60s - Q7
The description of Ashoke's deaths as 'expired' is effective because it helps to depict...
life with a happy start and but with sudden end.
the idea that living alone in America will be unbearable for Ashima as 'expired' sounds too clinical.
the way Lahiri had experience of being rejected at an airport because her passport had 'expired'.
how much Ashoke loved reading books.
30s - Q8
Still analysing the description of Ashoke's death as 'expired', unjumble the words to evaluate the effect of Lahiri's word choice:
Users re-arrange answers into correct orderJumble30s - Q9
Another example of how the 'expiry' of Ashoke demonstrates Ashima's attitude towards America is when...
Gogol goes to live with Maxine and tries to integrate with an American family.
Gogol goes on a school trip to a graveyard, and makes an etching of a gravestone.
Joe Biden makes every immigrant do a belly dance in order to get US citizenship.
Moushimi rejects the idea of being a traditional Indian wife.
30s - Q10
Lahiri's portrayal of the perceived strangeness of American attitudes toward dying reinforces...
The reason why American's celebrate Halloween.
Gogol's struggle with his identity.
Ashima's sense of 'foreignness'.
Their morbid and perverse customs.
30s - Q11
Identity the phrase which is used as a motif throughout the novel (see the additional support sheet for example quotes).
one cookie
one love
one snow
one hand
30s - Q12
“At every turning point in his life—at his wedding when he stood behind Ashima, encircling her waist and peering over her shoulder as they poured puffed rice into a fire, or during his first hours in America, seeing a small gray city caked with snow—
he has tried but failed to push these images away.” Chapter 1
Lahiri uses parallelism.
Lahiri uses juxtaposition.
Lahiri uses a motif.
Lahiri uses powerful words.
30s - Q13
Which of the following quotes depict Gogol's cultural insecurities as he struggles to know whether he is American or Indian?
“she'd had her first real glimpse of America: Leafless trees with ice-covered branches. Dog urine and excrement embedded in the snowbanks. Not a soul on the street.” Chapter 2
“Mrs. Jones leads a life that Ashoke's mother would consider humiliating: eating alone, driving herself to work in snow and sleet, seeing her children and grandchildren, at most, three or four times a year.” Chapter 3
“One January morning, the week after Christmas vacation [...] watches a thin, sugary snow fall inconsistently from the sky.” Chapter 4
“In the dark, through the windows of the taxi,wide awake from jet lag, she could barely make out a thing, apart from heaps of broken snow glowing like shattered, bluish white bricks on the ground.” Chapter 2
60s - Q14
“He is aware that his parents, and their friends, and the children of their friends, and all his own friends from high school, will never call him anything but Gogol.”
Ashoke has 'expired' and Gogol wants to remember his name.
Gogol is about to go off to university.
In Chapter 5, after Gogol officially changes his name in court.
The 'good name' will never arrive.
30s - Q15
Gogol remains insecure about legally certifying his name.
truefalseTrue or False10s