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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. About what percent of the population were farmers in the mid-nineteenth century in Japan?

2. What was the smaller of the two swords that a samurai carried used for?

3. What did those in favor of trade want from the West?

4. What was special about Commodore Perry being received by the Japanese?

5. What are two exports the United States is hoping to gain from Japan?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Dutch's visit to Edo to see the head Shogun.

2. What were some negative aspects of the Tokugawa period?

3. Describe the role of the Emperor of Japan at that time.

4. Describe the scene when the Susquehanna and Mississippi landed.

5. What percentage of Japanese were farmers and what was their life like?

6. What was one consequence of the Japanese's isolation for the Americans?

7. Who is Kayama; what did he want, and what was Commodore Perry's response to him?

8. What were some of Commodore Perry's accomplishments in addition to convincing the Japanese to receive him?

9. Who commanded the American forces and why did they come to Japan?

10. What happened after Shogun Ieyasu died?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One major theme of Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun is that of the meeting of two dissimilar cultures and how the two cultures evolved to signing a treaty of mutual benefit. Discuss the following:

1. Compare/contrast some of the major cultural differences between the Americans and Japanese. Consider differences in the area of food, art, gender, and warfare.

2. The Japanese and the Americans each thought the other group barbaric. Discuss the term barbaric and analyze the ways in which each group applied the word to the other. Is either group accurate in naming the other barbaric? Discuss with examples.

3. Discuss the advantages of two cultures having a mutual exchange of ideas, trade and military support.

4. Discuss the disadvantages of two cultures having a mutual exchange of ideas, trade and military support.

Essay Topic 2

In the world of academe, historical fiction is often considered an inferior form of the novel compared to "classic" literature. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think historical fiction might be considered second-rate compared to the classics, such as books by an author such as Charles Dickens?

2. Do you think historical fiction has the same elements as the classics? Why or why not?

3. What are the purposes do you think for people reading "the classics"? What are the purposes for people reading historical fiction? Is one purpose better than another? Explain your response.

4. Would you read historical fiction even outside an educational setting? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

When Shogun Ieyasu died in 1616, being a Christian became punishable by death and Christians were persecuted en masse. The cross was stamped annually and even in the nineteenth century, the Dutch and formerly Christian Japanese families were force to stamp Christian symbols. Discuss the following:

1. Research the persecution of Christians in Japan in under the Tokugawa Shoganate and write an informative essay about the topic. Include your thoughts on why the Shoganate was ohstile towards Christianity and whether you think the hostility had any justification.

2. How do you think Japanese Chrisitans could have impacted the status quo? Consider the idea that all are equal in God's eyes according to many Christian denominations.

3. What is an example of a nation in the 21st century who practices religious intolerance? Compare/contrast their manifestation of intolerance with that of Japan in earlier centuries.

4. What do you think is the reason some people/nations are intolerant of religions that are different from their own?

(see the answer keys)

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