By Any Other Name--reading questions

Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Be sure to proofread your answers and use textual evidence.

1. What is the setting of the autobiographical narrative?

2. When Rama Rau and her sister went to the Anglo-Indian school what was the first thing that happened? What does this reveal about the school?

3. What can you infer about the headmistress based on her interaction with the girls?

4. Rama Rau thanked the headmistress for giving her an English name. What can you infer about Rama Rau’s character when she was young?

5. How did Rama Rau’s mother feel about British-run establishments?

6. Describe what the school was like.

7. Why did Rama Rau not know what winning meant? How did that affect her reputation at school?

8. Premila told Rama Rau not to cry out for her “Ayah.”  Why do you suppose that was?

9. Why do you suppose Premila wanted to take sandwiches to school for lunch?  What was the reason that she gave their mother?

10. How is it that Rama Rau could “put it happily away,” and not be bothered by what had happened?

Critical Thinking

Directions: Writers often use indirect characterization to develop their characters. In Santha Rama Rau’s autobiographical narrative, By Any Other Name, she does not directly tell us how she felt as a five-year-old but gives us clues instead. Do you think that her story would have been more powerful if she had directly stated her emotions or is it more powerful as is? Why?[Explain using concrete details and support.]