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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 feature of the Wild Man that Kingston saw as a child is distinctly different from the Wild Man caught in 1975?

2. Why was Ch'u Yuan banished from the Center and from the Royal Court?

3. What does Kingston notice about the Wild Man as shown in the photos of his capture appearing in the newspaper?

4. What amount of pay is given to the Chinese workers in Hawaii for working in the cane fields?

5. What food product is Uncle Bun obsessed with when the reader first meets him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the last line in "The Hundred-Year-Old Man"?

2. Describe the relationship between Lo Bun Sun and Sing Kay Ng.

3. Explain why the Hundred-Year-Old Man's answer about how to stop the war in Vietnam is so simple.

4. Explain why the people that meet Li Sao realize too late that he is the last righteous human being. What do the people do to get Li Sao to return to Earth? What are the results of the people's attempts?

5. Why does the author suggest that instead of the Driving Out in Alaska taking place twice that it could be the same story but with the dates mixed up?

6. Retell the Filipino scholar's story about the Chinese first coming to the Philippines in search of gold. Be sure to include only the information that the scholar provides. Don't be distracted by the party-goers' interruptions.

7. Create a dictionary using words from the chapter, "The Li Sao: An Elegy." Choose words that readers will need to have knowledge of in order to understand the story. Create a display using words that fit the theme of the folktale, such as phoenix, mourned, epic, elegy, lament, sorrow, estrangement, incorruptible, entwined, requiem, warmongers, etc.

8. Compare and contrast grandfather Ah Goong's experiences during the Driving Out with those that took place in Alaska according to Kingston's narrative.

9. At the end of the story about Kau and Great Aunt, Kingston writes that the Great Aunt's return to Red China is a clue that the country of their heritage is not as bad as the stories imply. What does this reveal to the reader about the narrator and her understanding of Communist China?

10. Explain why members of the freighter's crew try to send their shipmate to China and describe the Wild Man's response at the airport.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tell about the evolution of Kingston's Chinese family from one that practices solely Chinese customs to one practicing Americanized customs. For example, how many generations pass before Kingston's family evolves from adhering to arranged marriages to its first self-selected marriage. Discuss the reluctance of Kingston's Mother to let go of her Chinese traditions or superstitions. Describe the condition of the Chinese American in California with family still living in China.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the stories of Kingston's two relatives who helped build up the places they went outside of China. The Great Grandfather of Sandalwood Mountain" and "The Grandfather of the Sierra Nevada Mountains." Describe the similarities among the China men's two experiences, one in Hawaii and the other in America's Western states. Then describe the differences in the two men's experiences. What kinds of things contribute to the differences between the stories?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the traditions associated with Chinese arranged marriages. What is the purpose for the "wailing bride"? How are the customs different for the bride's family and the groom's family? What is the bride expected to do when she sees her groom for the first time? What do these actions imply about the bride's role in her marriage?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 2,017 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample