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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 learn from the woman on the ship?

2. What is Mei-ling's goal?

3. How does Yuan's lady mother react to his proposal?

4. Who does Yuan ask to reveal the truth about the bad news in his hometown?

5. Why does Yuan get angry at the women Sheng keeps company with?

Short Essay Questions

1. Although Yuan has prejudices about the white people, why does he like his teacher's family?

2. What evidence of social change does Yuan experience on the boat on the way back to China?

3. How does Yuan incorporate his love of the land with teaching? What are his student's reactions?

4. What is the bad news that Mary's family delivers to Yuan?

5. In what ways does Yuan struggle with his pride?

6. When Yuan finds a letter from Mary in his room, what does it say?

7. What reason does Mei-ling give for turning down Yuan's marriage proposal?

8. According to Mary's description, is Yuan enthusiastic or idealistic?

9. How does Yuan feel about America when he leaves it?

10. When Yuan is on the train to visit his father, what kind of people does he notice sitting around him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

How does China transform while Yuan is in America? Compare the three Chinas that Yuan experiences: the China before he leaves to America, the China he tells people about in America, and the China Yuan returns to. Cite at least three examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Yuan is often caught between two extremes and has trouble choosing one wholeheartedly. Give three pairs of extremes that Yuan must choose between. What does he finally choose? Why? What causes Yuan from picking one extreme over another?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 963 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample