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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. What causes Jim and Yuan's relationship to end?

3. When he's in the countryside, what does Yuan decide to do after he receives news about his father?

4. Who built the earthen house that Yuan stays?

5. What does Yuan do as he watches his father warm his hands by the fire?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why is Yuan so focused in his studies in America?

4. After he finds out his father is sick, why do the guards accompany Yuan back to his father's home?

5. In what way is Yuan changed after the maid touches his hand?

6. How does the maid turn into yet another trap for Yuan's freedom?

7. How is danger for the revolutionaries foreshadowed when Yuan, Ai-lan, and the lady mother are on the way to meet Yuan's uncle?

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

9. Why do Sheng and Yuan separate once they arrive in America?

10. What first gives Yuan the courage to stand up against his father about the arranged marriage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe how Sheng is symbolic of tradition and Meng is symbolic of revolution. Cite at least five specific examples. Also explain how three other characters are symbolic of either revolution or tradition.

Essay Topic 2

Yuan feels shame many times in the novel. Citing three examples from the text to support your argument, what are some of the times that Yuan feels shame? Why does he feel this shame? How does Yuan's shame develop or dwindle throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Yuan has a habit of judging people, places, and events by their outside experience.Citing specific examples from the novel, explain how this is true. Why is Yuan judgmental?

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