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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 cultural event does Shigeo attend in 1946 in Tokyo?

2. A group of influential businessmen known as The Fort, all involved with H & H Shipping, lay plans for who should hold which seats in government. Why do they care?

3. What action does the Kee family undertake because of what Char Nyuk Tsin learns from the newspaper about company values?

4. 20-year-old Sakagawa Kamejiro courts Yoko. Before he leaves for Hawaii, what does he tell his family he will do when he is ready to marry her?

5. What was the reaction in Hawaii to passage of the McCarren-Walter Immigration Act?

Short Essay Questions

1. Army captain Shigeo Sakagawa marches in a victory parade in Honolulu in 1946, but the occasion is a bittersweet one for him. He and his country have won the war, but Shigeo has suffered a great personal loss. What is it?

2. Chapter 6 is entitled "The Golden Men," which is a term intended to describe a certain kind of individual who was beginning to appear in Hawaiian society. Describe some of the traits that would qualify someone as a "Golden Man."

3. On December 10, 1941, many members of the Japanese community in Hawaii are rounded up and placed in barbed-wire enclosures. What do the descendants of the white missionary families do about this?

4. In 1868, Mun Ki is eager to return to China with his four sons and his wife, Nyuk Tsin, when his work contract ends. Why would such a return effectively separate Nyuk Tsin from her sons?

5. In 1952, as soon as 106-year-old Nyuk Tsin hears that it is legal for an Asian to become a U.S. citizen, she tries to learn to read and write so that she can pass the test. When she can't meet that requirement, what compromise is reached?

6. Author James Michener states that the Hakka villagers are "Chinese to the core and steeped in Chinese lore," and yet they refuse to follow the Chinese tradition of foot binding. Why?

7. Ever since he came to Hawaii in 1904, Kamejiro has been donating money to help support Japan's battles against other countries. By 1936, what responsibility to one of his children can Kamejiro not fulfill because so much of his money has been sent to Japan?

8. Kee Chun Fat, who made his money in the California gold fields, tells his nephew, Mun Ki, what a Chinese must do in order to succeed in America. What is his advice?

9. Is Nyuk Tsin's strategy of buying up losing properties from their major competition, the Fort, a smart business move? Why or why not?

10. In China, in the year 856 A.D., General Ching offers to lead a group of villagers in an escape from the Tartar invasion, but states that old people must stay behind. What happens when Char's elderly mother insists on joining the march?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the relationship shared by each of the following couples:

(a) Abner Hale and his wife Jerusha;

(b) Mun Ki and his wife Nyuk Tsin; and

(c) Malama (the Alii Nui) and her husband Kelolo

Essay Topic 2

Define a "theocracy," a "monarchy," and a "democracy." Discuss the strengths and shortcomings of each, and examine how each was depicted in the novel HAWAII.

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.

(see the answer keys)

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