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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 kind of flour do the Sawi women use to make bread?

2. What do the Tuans give the elders who come out to meet them for the first time?

3. What do the Sawi warriors do when they meet Don Richardson and John McCain for the first time?

4. Who is Patches?

5. What does eating flesh for the first time mean to Sawi children?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Narai waiting in the elephant grass, in his small dugout? What is his purpose and job to do on this auspicious day?

2. Why does Wario, Mahaen's mother-in-law, agree to be part of Kani's terrible revenge plot?

3. How is the boar killed?

4. What kinds of weapons does Yae take on the trip?

5. What is Carol Richardson's reaction to the sight of 200 armed warriors and the women and children standing massed, awaiting their arrival?

6. What was the moment in which Yae realizes that he has been tricked?

7. What tools appears in Chapter 12, Patriarch of the Tumdu, which are new to Sawi culture?

8. Why is the sound of the diesel boat engines so frightening?

9. Why does Yae throw water from the river into the air in order to drink it?

10. Why does Richardson title this chapter "Baptism of Strangeness"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cross-cultural communication has always been part of human life. In recent times, however, with our ability to travel so easily and quickly, the mixing of cultures has become commonplace. Richardson was working with the Sawi people at a time when travel was becoming very accessible. What are the ethical issues of influencing another culture? Does Richardson have the right to intrude upon the Sawi people? Is it his responsibility to share valuable wisdom with people who have not been exposed to ideas which can bring peace and understanding in new ways?

Essay Topic 2

Much of a Sawi person's day is spent gathering or hunting food. Families are mutually dependent upon each other for daily survival. What impact does this type of lifestyle have upon the Sawi family structure? What shape does a typical Sawi family take and is it a stable unit? What examples do you find in the book to support your conclusion?

Essay Topic 3

The interaction between the stone age and modern culture is a rare event. The drama of this story is the stunning clash of two worlds. What events in the book most dramatically reveal the strangeness between Tuan/Sawi? The plane? The boat? Selling of a child for an ax? The killing of Yao? The rituals? The cannibalism? Chose three of the most significant and dramatic events and describe them. What is it about these three events which clarify the deep differences between these two cultures?

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