Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is your understanding of arranged marriage? Do you think there are any advantages to the practice that Western cultures ignore or overlook?

Teaching Suggestion: Many Westerners see the concept of arranged marriage as anathema or akin to a lack of choice, but The Namesake provides a more nuanced picture of what it means to marry someone (and shows the struggles Gogol has with romantic love as well). Getting students to think through their preconceptions may help them understand Ashima and Ashoke’s relationship and the effect it has on Gogol.

2. What value do names have in defining us as people? How does what a person is called have significance?

Teaching Suggestion: A central theme of the novel is the importance of names in identity, so getting students to think about this will prepare them to see the conflict that Gogol feels that leads him to go by the name Nikhil.