| 1. | Imagine that Sharma is an advice columnist who gives young women advice on love, relationships, and marriage. You have read Sharma’s advice to Phulan on how to make a man happy, and you wish to respond. Consider Sharma’s advice. Then write a letter in which you express your opinion on this advice as persuasively as possible. Use examples from the novel to support your ideas. |
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| 2. | Shabanu and her family live in a very harsh climate where everything hinges on whether or not rain comes. Why would anyone love a home like that? Can you compare it to Minnesota in any way? |
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| 3. | From the beginning of the novel there are many references to women’s lives being at the whim of the man in their family (p21). They are brought up to know their first home is temporary. Do we do the same? What, if anything, is different? |
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| 4. | Have you ever lost a pet or something else close to you? What was it and how did it affect you? |
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| 5. | Think about Sharma and her role. Why is she looked down on by some people in the novel? What do you think of her and what she offers the story and Shabanu? |
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| 6. | Is Shabanu envious of Phulan? Why or why not? |
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| 7. | What is your opinion of Dadi as a father? What influenced your opinion of him? |
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| 8. | What coincidence makes the shopkeeper give Shabanu the beautiful shatoosh? What effect do you think it had on her opinion of herself? |
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| 9. | After explaining “camel vengeance,” Staples writes, “In the desert, men aren’t so different from camels. They never leave an old argument unsettled.” What might such a statement be preparing readers for? |
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| 10. | Name an activity that you now think you are too old to engage in. When did you first realize that you had probably done so for the last time? |
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| 11. | Which incidents in this part of the novel did you find the most moving? Why? |
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| 12. | Do you think that American society places higher value on males than it does females? If so, why? |
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| 13. | For which character did you feel the most empathy—that is, whose emotions or feelings did you understand the best and care about the most? Why? |
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| 14. | What new marriage arrangements does the family make for Shabanu and Phulan? Do you think than Shabanu’s family really has her best interests at heart in making the arrangement? Why or why not? |
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| 15. | What is the most important decision that you have had to make so far? What factors made the decision especially difficult for you? |
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| 16. | How did it affect your life? Did you rely on advice to arrive at the decision? If you had it to do over, would you make the same decision? |
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| 17. | How did you react to the decision that would force Shabanu to marry a fifty-five-year-old man? Why? |
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| 18. | How do Shabanu’s feelings toward Phulan change after Phulan’s wedding? What has brought about the change? |
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| 19. | What is Shabanu’s ultimate decision about her situation? Why did she make the decision? |
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