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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Yuan dislike the 17-year-old daughter of the landlady?

2. Who's friend is Wu Li-yang?

3. What makes Yuan feel trapped?

4. What is Wu Li-yang's occupation?

5. What causes Yuan to start paying more attention to Ai-lan's female friends then he previously did?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Yuan finally decide to learn to dance at the pleasure houses?

2. When Yuan is sitting by his ill father at the fire, what causes Yuan to start to resent him again?

3. How does Sheng represent tradition? How does Meng represent revolution?

4. In Chapter 1, why does Yuan feel trapped?

5. When the group of farmers crowd Yuan's room, what does the eldest say to him?

6. Why does Yuan sometimes make his homeland seem more perfect than it is?

7. Why does Yuan seem to despise the American people?

8. What does Yuan do when he sees the poor people outside the pleasure house? What does he think of the poor?

9. When Yuan travels to the earthen home that once belonged to his grandfather, why do the people look at him suspiciously?

10. What does Yuan do while he is in the countryside?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mary describes the differences between idealism and enthusiasm. What are they? Which category does Yuan fall in? Why? Choose at least two other characters and describe how they are also either idealistic or enthusiastic. Why? Cite at least four examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How does Pearl S. Buck use foreshadowing to tell the reader what might happen in the future? What are three elements of foreshadowing cited from the novel? What did these events foreshadow in the future? What effect does foreshadowing have on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Yuan has difficulty rejecting the traditions of the past and accepting the revolutionary ideas. What traditional ideas does Yuan have trouble rejecting and accepting? What revolutionary ideas does Yuan have trouble rejecting and accepting? What conclusions does Yuan come to in the end? Cite at least three examples from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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