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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 suggests that Wang Lung purchase the outer courts of the townhouse to drive out the dirty commoners in Chapter 30?

2. Where does Cuckoo say Lotus is from in Chapter 18?

3. Where does Wang Lung have Ching buried in Chapter 29?

4. What does O-lan refuse to leave out for Cuckoo in the mornings in Chapter 21?

5. Whom does Wang Lung's second-eldest son say his older brother has been going out with at night in Chapter 23?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is significant about Wang Lung's uncle's revelation that he is associated with the redbeards in Chapter 23?

2. How does Wang Lung's family go about relocating to the city in Chapter 29? Who is the last to leave the land?

3. How does Wang Lung respond when O-lan warns him of his eldest son visiting Lotus in Chapter 24?

4. What decision does Wang Lung make regarding his second-eldest son in Chapter 25?

5. How is Lotus's arrival at Wang Lung's home described in Chapter 20? Who is present for her arrival?

6. How is Lotus Flower described on the picture in the tea shop in Chapter 18?

7. What does Wang Lung do in order to gain control over his uncle and his family in Chapter 28?

8. Whom does Lotus suggest to Wang Lung for an arranged marriage for his son in Chapter 23?

9. How does Wang Lung go about arranging to purchase Lotus in Chapter 20?

10. How does Wang Lung perceive his family and children in Chapter 17?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the impacts of The Good Earth’s publication. How did Americans reading the novel in the late 1930s perceive it? How did the novel change perceptions about the Chinese? How has reading the novel changed your own perceptions?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the themes of superstition, faith, and luck in The Good Earth. What symbolism relates to these themes? What color is symbolic for fortune and luck to Wang Lung? How are these themes developed through character and setting in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the setting of Wang Lung’s homestead in the novel. How does this setting evolve and change in the course of the narrative? What does Wang Lung’s land represent for him symbolically?

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