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

2. Which best describes the setting of "On Fathers"?

3. Why do the children reach into the man's pockets?

4. Who is Guan Goong?

5. What is the significance of the Supreme Court ruling in the1898 case, The United States v. Wong Kim Ark?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Describe the way great grandfather Bak Goong ends up working in the Sandalwood Mountains in Hawaii?

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

7. What purpose is served when Bak Goong tells his fellow workers the tale about the King who fathered a prince with cat ears and keeps it a secret?

8. Tell what the Four Valuable Things are and explain their importance to the Chinese culture.

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a book review of Maxine Hong Kingston's novel China Men. Briefly summarize the plot line in the story, and then describe Kingston's approach to the subject as an author. Finally, tell whether you would recommend this book to someone else. Explain your recommendation to your reader.

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

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?

(see the answer keys)

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