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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. When the beautiful surroundings disintegrate, what does Jen's wife feel?

2. What kind of a dream does Jen's wife have?

3. In Jen's wife's dream, where is she sitting?

4. How far away is T'an-ch'eng from Jen's house?

5. Who does Jen's wife see with a tumor sticking out of him?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the boy that Ts'ui Meng befriended rescue him?

2. What does Huang discover at Jen's house?

3. How is Jen's punishment lessened and what does it say about the Chinese system?

4. How does Jen place the blame of Wang's death on Kao?

5. What is Chinese law regarding adultery?

6. How does Li protect Ts'ui Meng's wife?

7. What is done to placate Wang's ghost and why?

8. Why do you think Spence named the book The Death of Woman Wang?

9. Why is keeping order difficult in T'an-ch'eng County?

10. What is the story that P'u Sung-ling writes about a woman confronting rampaging soldiers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What public systems are maintained in the county of T'ang-Ch'eng via taxes? What private or Imperial systems are maintained? Who builds and maintains this infrastructure? Is taxation thus beneficial to the individual citizen? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The four rhetorical modes of writing are exposition, argumentation, description, and narration. Which mode or modes are used in this book and how? List at least one example of each mode you find in the book. Explain what reason Spence might have had for using it.

Essay Topic 3

Natural disasters occurred throughout the narrative.. How did these events impact Huang and in what ways? Describe, giving examples of observations he made about T'ang-Ch'eng.

(see the answer keys)

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