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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. Who travels to Alaska during the Driving Out to help end the violence?

2. Why is Kingston confused about the story of the gold needle in a mountain in the Philippines?

3. What tradition does Mad Sao perform at his mother's graveside that the Kingston family does not do after Uncle Kau's funeral?

4. What personal theory does Kingston recall testing when she was child?

5. What animal does Lo Bun Sun make his pet and what does he teach it to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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.

2. Analyze Kingston's narrative about Uncle Kau Goong and his elderly wife. Explain why Great Aunt goes to Hong Kong and then back to China. Describe Uncle Kau's response to Great Aunt's pleas to be together again. Students might suggest the importance of Kau's final words on the subject: "We belong here (America)!"

3. How does the Wild Man end up in a Tampa Hospital for the insane? Tell what happens once he is there.

4. Describe the experience of the AJA's (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) during World War II, using only details from Kingston's retelling of her memories and the stories she heard as a child.

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. Explain the irony of the mandarins requesting more ships in the story the Filipino scholar tells in "On Listening."

7. What does Lo Bun Sun's constant work and preparation suggest about his character?

8. What happens to Father after the Gambling House is closed permanently? How does Father recover?

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

10. What evidence in "The Wild Man of the Green Swamp" is there that shows the Wild Man's ingenuity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the Four Most Valuable Things according to Chinese tradition. Tell why the Chinese valued these things. Cite examples from China Men that illustrate why these items are called the Four Most Valuable Things. Think about four valuable things in modern society. What things would you list as most valuable? How are they similar to and different from the Chinese traditional Four Most Valuable Things?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the meaning of Diaspora. Explain how a Diaspora of the China Men occurred in the United State. Find other examples of Diaspora events in history, such as the Jewish Diaspora of ancient times. Write a persuasive essay that defends or denies the practice of Diaspora. Include details you discovered during your research as well as details from the description of the Driving Out of Chinese immigrants in China Men.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, Kingston makes reference to the different cultures living within China, including the Cantonese, the Han, and later the Mandarin. Explain the references that the author makes to each ethnicity and provide the context in which she is describing it. Which one is Kingston? How do you know?

(see the answer keys)

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