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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. How many parts does the exam in Beijing have?

2. About what are Hong and Chen warned?

3. Who is Yuying?

4. What does Hong do as Chen is studying?

5. What does General Ma want Hong to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is available to Chen for a position, what is he considering and how does Hong feel about Chen making up his mind?

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

3. How does Wang Chih get away from the army?

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

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

6. What does Hong decide to do after Chen takes a position and what does Sun Qi give Hong?

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

8. What does Hong agree to do with Yao, and what does he insist on first? How do the boys carry out Hong's desire?

9. How does Hong find information about the locusts and his village?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The scholars are asked to write on a single question, supposedly composed by the emperor himself. The question is "What does 'good' mean in the social order?" Chen is torn, because his own personal experiences seem to conflict with what he has learned through scholarship. He begins to write about his own experiences from his journey, but changes his mind and composes an essay on what makes a good leader.

1. Why do you think Chen's experience on his journey might conflict with his academic knowledge? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. Why do you think Chen's experiences might be a good answer to the question about good? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. What influence do you think a good leader has on social order? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze one major theme of "The Examination". Consider the following: How does one character's actions portray the theme you are analyzing? How does the setting contribute to that theme? Is the theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme. If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

2. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of this novel. What are those themes? Is each theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme. If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

3. What benefit is there in discussing and analyzing the themes of a work of fiction? Do you think most authors consciously develop themes in their works? Why or why not? Can there be accidental themes? What do you think is one possible "accidental" theme in "The Examination"? Which theme in the book speaks to you the most in your life? Why?

Essay Topic 3

The brothers face a moral dilemma when they meet some starving villagers on their way to Beijing. By giving the women some food, they make them a target of the two starving men who may kill the women to get it. They give some food to the men as well, but then leave without seeing what happens. Later in the book, the brothers each admit to thinking the right thing to do would have been to kill the two men so the women might live. The dilemma has no clear solution, and serves as an example of the difficulty in determining and enforcing social justice. Within the narrative, the episode is transformational to the brothers, who are rapidly forming their own ideas about right and wrong in the social order.

1. Do you think the brothers solved the problem with the men and the women and food well? Why or why not? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. Why do you think this event might have caused the brothers to think about social justice and order? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. How does this event tie in with Hong joining the White Lotus Society? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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