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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. What does Yuan discover in his father's room?

2. What is the occupation of Yuan's father?

3. What does Yuan do to get the money to travel to the coastal city?

4. What does Yuan burn before the soldiers come to raid the houses?

5. What does Yuan's "mother" think he should do about his father?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Yuan go to the coastal city to see his sister and her mother?

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

5. What finally pushes Yuan to join the cause?

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

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

8. What does Yuan think of the women at the pleasure houses?

9. Why is Yuan so proud to call Ai-lan's mother his own mother?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Yuan joins the cause believing that it will help give him freedom, especially from his father's control. How does Yuan discover that the cause actually means less freedom? What is Yuan's reaction? Cite at least three specific examples from the novel.

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

The number three is significant in several ways, one being that there are three stages in Yuan's life. Describe these three stages and how they compare and contrast. These stages of life are represented by the three different chapters. Explain how this is significant.

(see the answer keys)

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