Period 2A/8B HONORS: Assignment for 9/26-27/2016 (17 pts): The Namesake – Chapters 4-5 pg. 72-119
Directions: You will read sections of The Namesake Chapter 4 and 5 to answer the following questions on a
separate sheet of paper. You do not need to write the questions, but please write yours answers in complete
sentences. DUE BY THE END OF CLASS. You will have a quiz NEXT CLASS on today’s readings/questions.
Section 1: Read The Namesake Ch. 4 pg. 72-78, then answer the following questions.
1. Compare details of Gogol’s American 14th birthday party to his Bengali 14th birthday party. Which party
does Ashima feel more comfortable preparing for? (pg. 72-73)
2. What is Gogol's passion at this age? What has he posted on the bulletin board in his room? (pg. 74)
3. What book does Gogol’s father give Gogol for his birthday? (pg. 74)
4. What has Gogol’s father told Gogol about his name? Where does Gogol believe his father’s limp comes
from? (pg. 75)
5. Why hasn’t Ashoke told him the whole truth, especially on this very important birthday? (pg. 77)
6. Why doesn’t Gogol like his name at this point in his life? (pg. 76-78) Use your words and ONE quote
from these pages to support the idea that Gogol does not like his name.
Section 2: Read Ch. 4 pg. 88 [starting at “In September, Gogol returns to high school” (Lahiri 88)] to pg. 93
[ending at “‘He was not yet forty-three years old’” (Lahirir 93)] then answer the following questions.
7. The Ganguli family go to Calcutta, India for 8 months. After the family’s return to the United States,
what book does Mr. Lawson, Gogol’s English III teacher, assign to the class the week after Christmas
vacation? (pg. 89)
8. Write two interesting facts we learn about Nikolai Gogol’s life from Mr. Lawson. (pg. 90-93)
9. You are Gogol. Imagine sitting in your English class and hearing this information about the person you
are named after, Nikolai Gogol. What is your reaction? How do you feel about living the rest of your life
with this name connected to your identity?
10. Explain what the following quote means: “To read the story, he believes, would mean paying tribute to
his namesake, accepting it somehow” (Lahiri 92). (For example, you could explain how Gogol feels
about his name, or why he does not want to read “The Overcoat,” or something along these lines.)
Section 3: Read Ch. 4 pg. 93 [starting at “Gogol does not date anyone in high school” (Lahirir 93)] to pg. 96
[the end of Ch. 4] then answer the following questions.
11. Why don’t Ashima and Ashoke find it strange that Gogol doesn’t date in high school? (pg. 93)
12. Gogol sneaks into a college party and pretends to be a college freshman at Amherst. He meets a girl
named Kim. How does he introduce himself to Kim? (pg. 95) How does this incident with Kim show that
Gogol is beginning to develop a double identity? (pg. 95-96)
Section 4: Read Ch. 5 pg. 108 [starting at the bottom: “In the autumn of his sophomore year” (Lahiri 108)] to
pg. 120 [“something had changed” (Lahiri 120)] then answer the following questions.
13. At the beginning of Ch. 5, we find that Gogol has been accepted to Yale. Before he leaves for college,
Gogol legally changes his name to Nikhil. Why is this decision symbolic?
14. Gogol decides to major in architecture. One day, as he heads back home for Thanksgiving during his
sophomore year, he sits next to a girl he knows from Yale named Ruth. How does the author, Lahiri,
describe Ruth on pg. 110? What does she look like, and what is her major? (pg. 110).
15. How does Gogol’s family react to his relationship with Ruth? (pg. 116-117).
16. What are “ABCD’s”? (pg. 118)
17. During his senior year, Gogol rides the train home for Thanksgiving alone. What happened between
Ruth and him? (pg. 119 or 120).
