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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 concerns Blackthorne after the earthquake?

2. Who does Toranaga send for to come to his quarters?

3. Where does Blackthorne go to meet Kiku?

4. What does Blackthorne suggest Toranaga intends to do with him and Mariko?

5. Who does Mura send to dig for what Toranaga lost in the earthquake?

Short Essay Questions

1. What proposal of Blackthorne's meets with opposition from Toranaga?

2. What unusual battle plan does Toranaga come up with to use against Ishido?

3. Describe Blackthorne's introduction to Kiku.

4. What are the circumstances that call off the attack against Mariko after the bomb goes off?

5. Why is Ochiba unsure of the parentage of Yaemon who is thought to be the son of Taikō?

6. How does Toranaga publicly honor Yabu?

7. Why does Mariko travel to Osaka with scrolls for Kiri and Sazuko?

8. What is the unusual request Buntaro makes of Blackthorne.

9. what is the chief concern among Toranaga's people pending his arrival at his castle?

10. What does Blackthorne find when he is given permission to visit his crew from the Erasmus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, How Traders Made Their Living. Start with the idea that trading went on long before there were systems for monetary exchanges. Use information from SHÅŒGUN about the European/Chinese/Japanese trade practices worked. Include the more familiar trade between China, India, and Europe in the days of Marco Polo. At what point in that system does actual money come to play?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, The Absurdity of Religious Wars. Use Toranaga as an example when he can scarcely believe that wars in Europe have centered around religious differences. Discuss the oxymoron of a "holy war." Give examples from history to the present day when war has been declared over religion.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Feudalism in Shōgun. Your points should include the use of peasants as slave labor, the exorbitant taxes placed on them, and the fear the ruling class has at the idea of peasants having access to guns.

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