Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What kind of atmosphere is created in the story by the inclusion of details like the Water Genie Iff?

A) Ominous

B) Comic

C) Mythic

D) Satiric

2. Which of the following is the clearest example of a comic element in the story?

A) The name of the Hoopoe Haroun rides

B) Haroun ending up in a Princess Rescue Story

C) Iff dropping the Disconnector in Haroun’s room

D) Blabbermouth juggling for Haroun

3. What do the characters of Rashid and Khattam-Shud have in common?

A) They are cowardly.

B) They are caricatures.

C) They are storytellers.

D) They are allegorical.

4. Which of the following ideas does the story most clearly support?

A) Fiction is entertaining, but it does not serve as serious a purpose as nonfiction stories do.

B) Made-up stories serve a purpose in everyone’s life, whether they want to admit it or not.

C) Even though fiction has the power to change the world, many people are untouched by its power.

D) Made-up stories can be both dangerous and helpful, and wisdom means knowing the difference.

5. What quality of Mr. Sengupta’s would Khattam-Shud most approve of?

A) His lack of imagination

B) His affair with a married woman

C) His ability to ask critical questions

D) His obedience to authority

6. Which is the clearest indication of how much Haroun misses his mother?

A) His quest to help his father

B) His reaction to Blabbermouth

C) His concern about the clocks

D) His fixation on the number eleven

7. Which detail offers the clearest foreshadowing of Haroun’s dream adventure?

A) The name of the lake in the Valley of G

B) The attitude Mr. Buttoo takes toward Rashid

C) The name of the town of Kosh-Mar

D) The smell in the Moody Land

8. What do details like the name of the houseboat at the Dull Lake, the name “The Walrus,” and the reference to the princess’s haircut in the Princess Rescue Story all have in common?

A) They are allegories for famous events in history.

B) They are allusions to Rushdie’s personal life.

C) They are allegories for contemporary political events.

D) They are allusions to other stories.

9. Which motif is most clearly supported by the lakes in the Valley of K, the lands of Gup and Chup, the Shadow Warriors, and Blabbermouth’s disguise?

A) Artificiality

B) Authoritarianism

C) Duality

D) Deception

10. Which thematic motif is most clearly supported by Butt’s reaction to the Silence Laws and his comments to Haroun about the Guppees’ complaints about their leaders?

A) The Importance of Stories

B) Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All

C) Linguistic Playfulness

D) The Slippery Nature of Language

11. Which is the most accurate summary of the way Haroun changes during the story?

A) He gradually learns to better appreciate the importance of his father’s craft.

B) He gradually learns to take responsibility for his own actions.

C) He becomes less fearful and more willing to take risks for what is right.

D) He becomes more confident in his own decision-making and understanding of people.

12. What is ironic about Khattam-Shud’s Silence Laws?

A) Enforcing the Silence Laws actually leads Khattam-Shud to change his mind about free speech.

B) They are intended to apply to his subjects, but they end up being applied to him.

C) They are intended to preserve his power, but they eventually lead to his downfall.

D) Enforcing the Silence Laws causes Khattam-Shud to lose his ability to communicate his orders.

13. Which of the following statements is most clearly supported by the story?

A) Naming is a kind of misleading labeling.

B) Naming is the beginning of identity and meaning.

C) Naming is a convenient way to condense stories.

D) Naming can freeze identity and make it static.

14. Which is the most logical interpretation of what the Sea of Stories stands for?

A) The inexhaustible nature of human imagination

B) The danger human activity poses to precious natural resources

C) The mysterious and unknown things that still exist in the world

D) The ability of stories to transport people to other worlds

15. By the end of the story, what does Haroun believe about fiction?

A) It can be a dangerous tool in the wrong hands, but it can do great good when the right people create it.

B) It is important for helping people create community, but it can’t convey the truth as well as nonfiction.

C) It has so much power to shape people’s understanding that it can actually replace reality.

D) It can tell the truth in a way that nonfiction sometimes can’t, but it is not the same thing as reality.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is implied by the revelation that Haroun’s city is called Kahani?

2. What is “P2C2E,” and what larger idea about stories does it support?