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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 do sorrowful beasts like to eat the most?

2. What beasts are particularly hard to kill?

3. What are all flourishing beasts?

4. What did Li Chun really do to the mayor's daughter?

5. When was the first sighting of a joyous beast?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of creatures are joyous beasts?

2. In Part I, what does the narrator's professor tell her might have happened to the male sorrowful beast Cloud?

3. How does Lefty "tame" the sorrowful beast?

4. Why does the narrator feel guilty about her role in the killing of the sacrificial beasts?

5. What does the narrator think the sacrificial beasts sacrifice themselves for?

6. What does the narrator's professor say about joyous beasts when she asks him about the picture in the paper?

7. Why do sorrowful beasts seek only one mate in life?

8. Why are birds illegal to have as pets?

9. How does a joyous beast reproduce?

10. How does Ge describe the smile of a sorrowful beast?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Ge chose to have sorrowful beasts die if they smile, and what is the symbolism behind this mechanism? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why and how does the narrator experience guilt over the course of the novel - especially as the feeling relates to her professor, Charley, and Zhong Liang? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

How and why is this novel an example of the genre of magical realism? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

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