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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. Who is the narrator in this chapter?
(a) the father
(b) the stranger
(c) the author
(d) the mother

2. How many times does Ah Goong go to Gold Mountain?
(a) five times
(b) never
(c) one time
(d) three times

3. How does the stranger respond to the children's mistake?
(a) He gets angry and yells at Mother.
(b) He swats the children away from him as if they were flies.
(c) He laughs and tells them they made a mistake.
(d) He is speechless and ignores them altogether.

4. Which best describes the genre of these two chapters: "The Ghostmate" and "The Father From America"?
(a) folktale and nonfiction
(b) autobiography and biography
(c) fantasy tale and biography
(d) realistic fiction and autobiography

5. How does the wife that great grandfather Bak Sook Goong takes back to China affect Kingston's heritage?
(a) The new wife's children start the line of Hawaiian-Chinese family members.
(b) The new wife insists on returning to Hawaii with the rest of the family, removing them from China for good.
(c) The new wife refuses to blend with Bak Sook Goong's other wives, causing the first divorce in her family.
(d) The new wife has no affect on Kingston's heritage.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are the children referring to when they call out, "BaBa!"?

2. What is the significance of the court case, Chae Chan Ping v. The United States?

3. Tu cannot deliver his messages and take care of his urgent things after he exits the tunnel because _____________________________.

4. How many days does the China Men's strike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains last before a compromise is made with the Central Pacific Railroad?

5. What is inside of Hina that holds immortality for humanity?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kingston employ humor in "On Mortality Again"?

2. Explain the progression of laws that at first limited Chinese family members from entering the U.S. to the laws that allowed them entry whether the quota had been met or not.

3. Explain how prior knowledge or a similar experience can help a reader understand the events that occur in "On Fathers."

4. Describe how the widow in "The Ghostmate" uses the young man's talents against him.

5. Compare and contrast the tales that Kingston makes up about how her father gets to America.

6. What explanation does the tale of Tu Tzu-chun give for the "Mongolian spot" in "On Mortality?"

7. Evaluate the methods Kingston uses to reveal the passage of time while Ah Goong is working in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

8. Compare and contrast the proverbs "On Mortality" and "On Mortality Again."

9. At the end of the "The Laws," Kingston predicts that the 1980 census may show that a million or more ethnic Chinese will be living in the United States. Why does she have to predict the census numbers?

10. Describe the way the women pierce Tang Ao's ears and what they do to keep the holes open. Include examples of sensory details the author uses in the text.

(see the answer keys)

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