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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 is a submerged island called when it reaches the ocean's surface?

2. What does Keoki tell Abner about the rocks in Malama's garden?

3. What else does the island king plan to take along on the escape voyage?

4. What does decomposed lava rock create?

5. What two ways does John Whipple plan to serve God?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. Nine years later, Abner is delighted to learn that his oldest son, Micah, is returning to Hawaii as a minister. But when he meets the ship, he learns that Micah has married the daughter of Neolani (and granddaughter of the old Alii-Nui, Malama). How does Abner react to this news?

4. In Chapter 1, what natural feature does author James Michener describe as dwarfing all others on Earth, and why?

5. In Chapter 3, why does the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) insist that Abner Hale get married before he is allowed to sail to Hawaii as a missionary?

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

7. Once an island finally reaches the ocean's surface, is its presence there permanent? Why or why not?

8. 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?

9. How does the voyage go, and what good and/or bad omens do the travelers encounter?

10. What were likely to be the earliest living creatures to visit the newly formed island in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cultures and ethnic groups that are thrown together geographically have two basic choices: they can clash or they can blend. Show examples of each from HAWAII.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 3, Abner Hale and John Whipple begin as roommates at Yale, and both answer the call to do missionary work in Hawaii, but their paths soon diverge as their decisions bring them into greater and greater conflict with one another. Which of these men eventually feels more fulfilled by the life choices he has made, and why?

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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