The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Where does the novel begin?

2. Where did Changez go to college?

3. Who was Changez’s love interest when he was in America?

4. What novel does the party at Jim’s remind Changez of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Changez able to assess American behavior so easily?

2. How was Changez able to go to university?

3. How is Changez’s experience in Greece different from his travel companions?

4. What does Erica mean when she says that she and Changez are both homesick?

5. What did Changez love about New York?

Paired Resource

“The History of Pakistan in 10 Minutes”

• A short video offering a history of Pakistan
• How does Pakistan in the first few chapters of the novel compare with the United States?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. What is the first one-on-one activity that Erica invites Changez to do?

2. How does Changez react when he sees the news of the 9/11 attacks on TV?

3. What animal flies around the café in Lahore?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Erica’s father ask Changez about and why does it irk him?

2. Why does the stranger panic when the lights go out in the café?

3. Why is Changez searched in the airport on the way back to New York?

4. Why does Changez begin attending benefits for the victims of 9/11 more frequently?

Paired Resource

“9/11 Hero Performed by Michael Israel in New York”

• Video of artist Michael Israel painting in response to 9/11
• What images in the artist’s performance might relate to the theme of Identity? How does the “patriotism” displayed by the artist compare with Changez’s reaction to 9/11?

“September 1, 1939”

• Poem by W.H. Auden that discusses grief and war and has often been compared to people’s responses to 9/11
• Why might this poem have resonated with people after 9/11? How might Changez respond to this poem?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does Changez notice as unusual when the stranger’s phone rings?

2. Why does Changez receive a bonus at work?

3. Where is the publishing company that Jim asks Changez to value?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What happens when Changez and his team work with a company in New Jersey?

2. What do readers learn about Erica’s mental health in these chapters?

3. What does Changez do that is out of character after learning that the United States has invaded Afghanistan?

4. Why does Changez throw himself into his work?

5. Why does Changez at first view Lahore with shame when he returns home? How does he change his perspective?

6. Why does Jim offer Changez a job that would normally go to someone with more experience?

Paired Resource

“Global War on Terror”

• A research guide on the War on Terror from the George W. Bush Library
• How does this presentation of events after 9/11 differ from Changez’s narrative? What do readers learn from getting a non-American perspective?

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. What city does Valparaiso remind Changez of?

2. Which artist’s home does Changez visit?

3. Who are the janissaries?

4. What does Erica’s mother give Changez?

5. What job does Changez get after leaving Underwood Samson?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Changez imply that the stranger is hiding in his suit?

2. Why does Juan-Bautista dislike Underwood Samson?

3. What does Changez do in response to learning about the janissaries?

4. What does Changez realize about his feelings for America on his trip back to New York?

5. Why does Changez publicly denounce the War on Terror even though his friends warn him of the dangers of doing so?

6. Who is the stranger?

Recommended Next Reads

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

• A novel retelling of Antigone about a Pakistani woman and her family
• Touches on Identity and the relationship between America and Pakistan
• Home Fire on SuperSummary

The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood

• A novel that follows two families from Pakistan and Iraq to the United States and spans from the 1990s to 2016
• Touches on Identity, The American Dream, and 9/11 and the War on Terror