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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 would be built at the place where the Americans landed?

2. What is one thing the treaty called for?

3. To what did the Japanese invite the Americans after the treaty signing?

4. What was a geographical characteristic of Shimoda?

5. What did Hayashi claim to Commodore Perry?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the Japanese do after the treaty and what impressed the Americans about the Japanese?

2. What was Hokkaido like and how did the first contact with them go for the Americans?

3. What was the first approach the Japanese took towards the United States request for a treaty?

4. What horrified the Japanese about the Americans at the banquet, but how did the Japanese behave anyway?

5. How did the Americans impress the Japanese as the Americans came ashore?

6. What Japanese awaited Perry and his staff?

7. How did the Japanese believe they had saved face, but did they really?

8. Where did the Commodore and staff go and what bothered the Commodore about the women there?

9. How did the behaviors of the Shimoda villagers change and what was the result?

10. How did the two cultures meet face to face and what did the people of the two countries think of the other?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation of the fact that the Dutch had been treating with the Japanese for many years and lived like slaves; whereas, the Americans were given comparative royal treatment.

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogunand how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not. Some possible techniques: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

Essay Topic 2

The Dutch were the only regular trading partners of the Japanese and they basically lived like slaves. They submitted to Japanese control in order to gain the enormous profits that came from Japanese trade. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think the Dutch paid too high a price for their "enormous profits"? Explain your answer.

2. How do you think the Japanese thought of the Dutch? Do you think the Japanese respected the Dutch? Why or why not?

3. Many corporations today are accused of making profit the "bottom line." What do you think that means? Do you agree?

4. Would you work for a company whose open or implied philosophy was "profit at any cost"? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 3

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Commodore Perry is no exception.

1. Trace and analyze situations when Commodore Perry demonstrates his admirable traits. Give specific examples to illustrate your analysis.

2. Trace and analyze Commodore Perry's character flaws, and explain how the flaws help or hinder his obtaining his objectives.

3. After analyzing Commodore Perry's strengths and weaknesses, decide if he is an appropriate "hero" of the story. Is there anyone else who might be a more admirable "hero"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,105 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample