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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. Which of the following from "The Ghostmate" shows that the young man is feeling guilty about not returning to his family?

2. Where does Hina of the night sleep?

3. To what does this simile refer: "Sap ran from its cuts like crying blind eyes"?

4. What are the "Jesus demons" trying to do when they visit the work camp where Bak Goong lives?

5. What is it that Maui instructs all the living creatures on Earth to do in order to accomplish his goal?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. In "On Mortality," how does the author make the reader sympathize with Tu when he is born as a deaf-mute girl child?

6. 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.

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

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

9. Explain how the author of "The Ghostmate" cues the reader that the main character represents any China Man in their youth.

10. Explain the irony of Maui the Trickster' s demise in "On Mortality Again."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Re-read the first two pages of Chapter 5, "The Great Grandfather of the Sandalwood Mountains." Summarize what happens when Kingston sends a distant cousin money for a bike. Kingston shows uncertainty regarding her decision not to send more money. Describe her reasons for the precaution she takes not to place her family in China any troubles.

Use this summary as a springboard to a longer essay regarding why Sojourners were expected to send money home to their Chinese wives and families. Why was this practice necessary? Does it stop at anytime during the time covered in Kingston's novel?

Essay Topic 2

Study the immigration laws currently on the books in the United States. Compare them to "The Laws" the author describes in that chapter. Verify the accuracy of the laws Kingston describes. Note that some of the laws address California immigration, and others were passed by the federal government. How have the laws changed since Kingston wrote this novel in 1977? Do you think the changes have been positive or negative? How do the modern laws affect different people?

Essay Topic 3

Revisit the chapter "The Grandfather of the Sierra Nevada Mountains." Explain the concept of citizenship papers that many Chinese immigrants purchased to ensure their ability to stay in America. Explain the reasons for paper sons. Then tell how the San Francisco fire of 1906 allowed every China man to be reborn a citizen.

(see the answer keys)

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