The Namesake Quizzes

The Namesake Quiz 1

1 What city do Ashoke and Ashima first move to in the United States?
Los Angeles

Cambridge

Chicago

New York
2 What does Ashima do secretly before meeting Ashoke for the first time?
Slips her feet into his shoes

Smells his cologne

Reads the book he wrote

Whispers his name
3 Who gives Ashoke the hardbound book of short stories by Nikolai Gogol?
Ghosh

Ashima

His grandfather

His son
4 Who does Ashoke talk to on the train before it crashes in 1961?
Ashima

Gogol

His grandfather

Ghosh
5 Who was supposed to choose Gogol's name?
Ashima

The doctor at the hospital

Ashima's grandmother

Ashoke's grandfather
6 Who lives above the Gangulis in their apartment in Cambridge?
Moushumi's parents

Mrs. Lapidus

The Montgomerys

Their parents
7 What ceremony do Gogol and Sonia partake in at the age of six months?
The rice ceremony

Marriage arrangement

A bris

Baptism
8 Who calls to inform Ashima of her father's death?
Her grandmother

Rana

Ashoke's father

Her mother
9 When does Ashima learn Ashoke's name?
Before she meets him

While Gogol is being conceived

After they are betrothed

During their marriage ceremony
10 Why does Ashima feel alienated in the hospital before giving birth to Gogol?
Because there are no other patients on her floor

Because Ashoke refuses to come

Because she thinks she is the only Bengali there

Because the nurse isolates her from the other patients
11 What does Ashima accidentally forget on the train?
A book

Presents for their family in India

New clothes for Gogol

The stroller
12 What does Ashoke do for work?
He is a professor at a university.

He is an author of novels.

He is a doctor.

He is a postman.
13 On what street is the home that Ashoke and Ashima purchase?
Maverick Street

Bengali Lane

Pemberton Road

D Street
14 How old is Gogol when Ashima becomes pregnant with Sonia?
He is still an infant

Five

Eight

Eleven
15 Who decides that Gogol will not be called Nikhil in kindergarten?
The principal, Mrs. Lapidus

Ashoke

Ashima

The librarian
16 When does Gogol first become self conscious about his name?
On a school fieldtrip to a cemetery

When he sees it written for the first time

When he learns to speak

In college
17 What does Ashoke give to Gogol for his fourteenth birthday?
A huge birthday party

A car

A jacket

A copy of I[The Short Stories of Nikolai Gogol]
18 Where do the Gangulis live for six months while Gogol is in tenth grade?
Paris

California

Calcutta

Italy
19 What does Mr. Lawson do that disturbs Gogol?
He has no idea who Nikolai Gogol is

He assigns the class to read "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol

He forgets his name

He yells at him in front of the entire class
20 With whom does Gogol share his first kiss?
Kim, at a college party while he is in high school

Maxine, at her parents' house

Bridget, while her husband is away

Moushumi, on his fourteenth birthday
21 When does Gogol legally change his name to Nikhil?
After graduating from Yale

Before marrying Moushumi

As soon as he learns to speak

The summer before college
22 Where does Gogol meet Ruth?
On the train ride home from college

At Oxford

At a coffee shop near Yale

At a party at his parents' house
23 What leads to Gogol's breakup with Ruth?
His parents' interference

He meets another woman he prefers

She has an affair

Her time studying abroad at Oxford
24 What does Ashoke tell Gogol after picking him up at the train station before Thanksgiving break?
That he can no longer attend Yale

The story of the train wreck that led to his name being Gogol

That he doesn't approve of Ruth

That Gogol must get married
25 What does Gogol do as a profession after college?
He is a waiter at a restaurant

He is a lawyer

He is a banker

He is an architect

Sonia is shocked and upset but is better deal with the death than others in the family. When Ashoke dies, she moves home to be with Ashima, leaving behind her life in San Francisco with little regret.

Asked by Javier H #1300684

Answered by Aslan on 4/13/2023 8:12 PM

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Why does Gogol only feel guilt as the train is leaving after breaking up with Bridget?

I think Gogol thinks of the husband that Bridget is going back to, the husband that they both betrayed.

Asked by Javier H #1300684

Answered by Aslan on 4/13/2023 7:59 PM

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THE AUTHOR USES THE WORD NIKHIL IS INCLUSIVE OF TWO CULTURES

You've provided all the necessary details... thank you! Nice work!

"Not only is it a perfectly respectable Bengali good name, meaning "he who is entire, encompassing all," but it also bears a satisfying resemblance to Nikolai, the first name of...

Asked by Matthew S #1287324

Answered by jill d #170087 on 2/1/2023 3:41 PM

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The Namesake

by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake Quiz 1

The Namesake Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Namesake

Essays for The Namesake

Lesson Plan for The Namesake

Wikipedia Entries for The Namesake