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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. When the island submerged, what formed over it?

2. What is an accurate description of the earliest beaches?

3. After Jerusha dies, what happens to her children?

4. During the voyage, what does it mean when the sailors spot flocks of birds catching fish?

5. What is one reason that the sailors sail back to their original island during Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does King Tamatoa plan to do about his conflict with the powerful and dangerous high priest?

2. What do the king and his brother, Teroro, argue bitterly about, when the time comes to build the first temple on their new island, and what compromise do they reach?

3. How does Abner Hale react when he is told that Hawaiians, including their Alii Nui (queen), Malama, practice polygamy, and that the rocks in the garden are family gods?

4. Abner and his wife, Jerusha, had four children. When Jerusha dies, what becomes of their children?

5. After the island in Chapter 1 was fully formed, the earth shifted, sinking it under 1,200 feet of water again for millions of years. What new feature formed around the island during that time?

6. What does James Michener think of the civilization that existed on the island of Bora Bora at the time that we first see the villagers in Chapter 2?

7. What hard emotional choice much Teroro make, when it is time for the group to sail north?

8. What is Abner's reaction when the crew of a docked whaling ship go on a rampage through the settlement, sacking the homes of Hawaiians and raping their women?

9. Malama wants to study how to read and write in English. Abner Hale wants her to learn about God first. How is this impasse resolved?

10. What dangerous message does Teroro receive from Tehani, the fourteen-year-old girl who takes him to her sleeping quarters after the convocation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the Hawaiian experience of missionary Abraham Hewlett, first with his wife Urania and then, after her death, with his wife Malia. Then compare and contrast how Hewlett was treated by Abner Hale and how he was treated by John Whipple.

Essay Topic 2

In the 1950's, Elinor Henderson (descendant of missionary Immanuel Quigley) refers to Kelly Kaanakoa and the Hawaiian people as "The Dispossessed." When he protests that he has everything he wants, she retorts: "You don't have your islands. The Japanese have them. You don't have the money. The Chinese have that. You don't have the land. The Fort has that. And you don't have your gods. My ancestors took care of that." Evaluate the fairness or unfairness of her statement, in light of the book's events.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 6, after World War II, the Japanese wife of Goro Sakagama meets with Dr. Sumi Yamazaki, a young sociologist from the University of Hawaii who is making a study of Japanese women who married American G.I.s. Dr. Yamazaki's findings indicate that the happiness of those Japanese brides depends largely on whether the American husband is of Caucasian, Chinese or Japanese descent. Describe Dr. Yamazaki's findings for each of these ethnic groups, and whether you believe her theories to be true or untrue.

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