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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. Why does Ming-Chen Wu leave UCLA?

2. What is the first point that Older Brother makes in court?

3. In ACT V: KUNG FU DAD," just as the protagonist figures out how to tell his story, what does Phoebe do?

4. When Ming-Chen Wu is living in Mississippi, who is the victim of a violent hate crime?

5. What part of Phoebe's bedtime routine makes the protagonist think she has been watching and learning from him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the double-meaning of "learning time" in "ACT V: KUNG FU DAD"?

2. When Ming-Chen tells Dorothy, on page 155, "This is how we met. And fell in love," what is Dorothy's response, and what compromise do they reach?

3. What is the significance, during the protagonist's monologue, of the light hitting him "just right" (245)?

4. What does the protagonist see as the benefits and drawbacks of the place where his daughter is growing up?

5. What is Older Brother's purpose in introducing People v Hall?

6. What happens to Ming-Chen Wu when he finally gets the role of Sifu?

7. What is the structural purpose of telling the story of Ming-Chen Wu and Dorothy right before the protagonist starts his relationship with Karen?

8. Explain the literal and nonliteral meanings of the world inside Phoebe's closet.

9. What are the main points that the protagonist makes in his monologue?

10. In what ways does Karen influence the protagonist to develop emotionally?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that examines how Interior Chinatown's status as metafiction as well as its use of pastiche, and hyperreality and simulacra relate to the thematic motif of performance versus authenticity. Be sure to support your ideas with evidence from the text and to cite any outside references in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

The life story of the protagonist's father is in some ways specific to the world of Interior Chinatown, in some ways specific to the experience of immigrants, and in some ways universal--particularly in his "descent" from stardom to generic bit parts for older actors. Consider this third aspect of his story: write an essay in which you demonstrate how Ming's story conveys a message about society's treatment of the elderly. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you consider Chinatown--both the Chinatown of the novel and real-world Chinatowns--as simulacra. Use evidence from the novel and from outside sources to evaluate how these various "Chinatowns" function as simulated replacements for reality. Be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,282 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample