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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From what point of view is "On Fathers" written?
(a) third--person omniscient
(b) third-person limited
(c) first-person narrative
(d) first-person observer

2. What sight does the bird see that causes it to start laughing?
(a) Maui entering Hina's vagina
(b) Maui diving into the ocean
(c) Maui teaching the children to be silent
(d) Maui's legs as he tunnels out of Hina's vagina

3. What is it that Maui instructs all the living creatures on Earth to do in order to accomplish his goal?
(a) stay silent
(b) walk on water
(c) read the clouds
(d) sing in tune

4. What indicates to the young man in "The Ghostmate" that the woman is "old style"?
(a) he does not like the clothing she left him
(b) the food is just the right temperature
(c) long combs and traditional eye make-up
(d) she serves him a meal

5. How does great grandfather Bak Goong break the rules of silence while working in Sandalwood Mountain?
(a) Bak Goong talks quietly to himself.
(b) Bak Goong coughs out Chinese words the masters cannot understand.
(c) Bak Goong sends written notes to other workers.
(d) Bak Goong deliberately sings in front of the masters.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does a Chinese bride do for three nights before she marries?

2. How does the stranger respond to the children's mistake?

3. In "The Ghostmate, what imagery does Kingston use when the main character arrives at the house?

4. What finally makes Tu Tzu-chun break his silence?

5. Which congressional act in 1882 bans Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. for ten years?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the author uses personification in "The Great Grandfather from the Sandalwood Mountains." Give examples from the text.

2. Describe how Kingston feels about her father from China. Use details from the text to support your conclusions.

3. Explain the cause for the children's confusion and its effects on the characters in "On Fathers."

4. How do the Chinese workers organize a strike against the railroad company without the "white demons" finding out?

5. Describe the tenets of the philosophy of living multiple lives until you learn an important lesson.

6. Why does Bak Goong have so much trouble staying quiet while working in the cane fields?

7. Identify and describe two historical allusions Kingston makes in "The Grandfather of the Sierra Nevada Mountains."

8. Explain how the author uses foreshadowing in the first two lines of "On Mortality."

9. What is the significance of the long path that leads to the widow's house in "The Ghostmate"?

10. Why does Kingston say that MaMa's arrival ends Ed's independent life?

(see the answer keys)

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