View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Chen offered after his examinations?

2. What exam determines the final rankings?

3. What happens when the ship leaves Juijiang?

4. What will Hong learn from Tang Wangai at the tomb?

5. What position does Tang Wangai offer Chen?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the brothers stop in Qufu and who do they meet there? What does he ask them to do?

2. What happens with Hong after he receives the message from Tang?

3. What happens when Hong goes to deliver his letter from Ye Pan?

4. What happens when Chen is invited out by three other scholars?

5. How far do the brothers take the Grand Canal, and what are they told at the end of it? What do they decide to do about the information?

6. Where is Hong taken by the pirates, who does he meet and what does that person tell him?

7. What does Chen do that ends his friendship with Yuying and what does she do about it?

8. What is the examination in Beijing going to be?

9. What do the river pirates do when they board the boat?

10. Where do the brothers finally stop after the Yellow River plain and where do they stay there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Discuss the theme of choice in "The Examination". Who makes wise choices? Who makes unwise choices?

2. Debate the following statement in an argument/persuasion essay: Making several poor choices one after the other makes it more likely one will continue to make poor choices.

3. Rewrite the ending with Chen making a different choice at some point in his journey. How did it change the book?

Essay Topic 2

Bosse has tried as much as possible to use historical events and facts around which to weave his work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think this book qualifies as an historical fiction? Why or why not?

2. If much of the events in the book are historical, what surprises you about the way the events play out?

3. Do you think the culture of that era is more or less advanced than you imagined? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in "The Examination". Consider the following questions as you write: What characters most need to grow as humans? Why? Give examples. Why characters seem to have reached close to their full emotional/mental growth? Why? Give examples What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of immaturity in "The Examination". Which characters struggle with immaturity? Why? Which characters seem really healthy emotionally/mentally? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of tradition in "The Examination". What is Chen's view of tradition? Hong's? Pan? Ma? Why is tradition important to some characters? Is anyone willing to abandon traditional viewpoints? Who? What are the positive and negative aspects to tradition?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,137 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample