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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. Who tells the narrator about the professor's death?

2. What kind of creatures are heartsick beasts?

3. Who transcribes the narrator's story for her about the prime beasts in Part IV?

4. What does Zhong Liang tell the narrator about her story about the thousand league beasts?

5. Who wants to meet the narrator desperately in Part III?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who creates heartsick beasts?

2. Why is the narrator so depressed in Part III?

3. What do impasse beasts feed on?

4. What is the highest calling of the flourishing beast?

5. How does the narrator realize she herself is a heartsick beast?

6. Why do female prime beasts sometimes kill their own children?

7. How does Methuselah die?

8. Why does the narrator tell Zhong Liang her stories have to be fairly simple?

9. Who saves the narrator from the impasse beast's effects?

10. What connection does the narrator have to Methuselah?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what ways, and my what means, are various beasts exploited and/or oppressed by people throughout the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What are some of the complications the narrator feels about her relationship with her own mother, and what does the narrator eventually discover about her father? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How and why do you think Ge employs ambiguity in both her descriptions of the relationships between sets of characters throughout the book, as well as concerning some major plot points? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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