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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 did Commodore Perry pretend to be?

2. When did the Portuguese arrive?

3. Of what does Manjiro assure the Shogun?

4. What was Edo?

5. What does Commodore Perry have for the Emperor from President Fillmore?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who were the daimyos?

2. Why did the Dutch submit to the rigid restrictions of the Japanese?

3. Where did messengers ride when the ships were spotted, and what was the consequence?

4. What was Edo's first response to the messengers and why is it amazing?

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

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

7. Who were the samurai?

8. Who is Nakajima and what does he tell the Americans and what was Perry's response?

9. Who were the lower classes in the cities and what was one advantage to their class?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many authors if queried would admit that they have an agenda for writing a particular novel. Discuss the following:

1. Define and give examples of the concept of "author agenda."

2. Do you think Blumbeg has an agenda in mind when she writes Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun?

3. What do you think would be Blumberg's agenda(s) (if she has one)? Give examples to illustrate how the agenda is fulfilled.

4. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

5. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if it is a successful novel. Explain your rationale with specific examples.

3. Do you think the fact that Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun falls within the genre of historical fiction changes the criteria upon which its success should be judged? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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