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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 is Z. G.?

2. What does Joy do when she finds her father coming out of a meeting?

3. To what is Pearl sentenced?

4. Who has kept Pearl's room exactly as she left it?

5. Of whom is Joy slightly afraid?

Short Essay Questions

1. What assignment is Joy given in the village, and why?

2. How is the commune set up for The Great Leap Forward?

3. What does the Prologue recount?

4. Why is Pearl called into a government office and what is she told?

5. Who is Joy attracted to in the Green Dragon Village and how do the two interact?

6. What does Pearl find when she goes to her childhood home?

7. Where are Joy and Z. G. going after leaving the Green Dragon Village and what does Z. G. say Joy will have the opportunity to do?

8. What is the Great Leap Forward and what does China hope to accomplish with it?

9. What does Pearl learn about the whereabouts of Z. G. and Joy?

10. What does Pearl think about as she goes after Joy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze how the setting informs the plot in "Dreams of Joy".

2. Trace and analyze one major theme of "Dreams of Joy". How is the theme represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

3. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of "Dreams of Joy". How are the themes represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by "Dreams of Joy", questions that See most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the See's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss See's probable agenda concerning that idea.

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

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

4. Research the life of See and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

Essay Topic 3

The government clearly has no idea how to properly plant and maintain field harvests, and they have the peasants so full of fear of be labeled counter-revolutionary that they won't speak up when they hear the terrifying field plans for The Great Leap Forward. Had anyone tried to convince the brigade leader that planting wheat in a cornfield wouldn't work, he would not have listened to their argument anyway. The brigade leader grew up in the city his entire life, is illiterate, but managed to secure a high-ranking position in the new government.

1. Explain the process you think would have to happen to beat people down so far that they would plant a food crop that would not grow. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. What do you think are the possible problems that might arise from having a city person run a farm. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. What do you see are the problems that are caused by having citizens in a country so fearful to speak out over a plan that is obvious to them will starve the population that they plant the wheat without saying a word to the commune leader. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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