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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. What religion did Bernard's father follow?

2. In what town did Theroux find cheap brothels and plentiful opium in Chapter 20?

3. How many feet did the train ascend before descending into the gorge in Chapter 19?

4. How much time did Theroux have to board the train to Sapporo in Aomori?

5. To what American author did Theroux compare the Japanese writer, Hirai Taro?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Mr. Bernard treat Theroux at his mansion in maymyo?

2. Why did Theroux leave behind his passport and camera while trying to go to the Goktiek Viaduct?

3. Describe the Japanese obsession with the high cost of living in Japan.

4. Who were the American-looking children Theroux saw throughout Vietnam?

5. Why was the man on the train to Calcutta running away from his girlfriend?

6. How did Westerners and Japanese react to the suicide of the Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima?

7. Why did Theroux find the Singapore government's prediction of electronic connectedness so disturbing?

8. What was Theroux's reaction to the sight of the Goktiek Viaduct?

9. What image was brought to mind by the sight of the Japanese workers doing mass calisthenics?

10. Why were the Vietnamese focused on providing foreign visitors with privileges?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Theroux encountered phenomenal levels of censorship in Singapore. How did the strong central government control of people's lives affect their personalities? Do you think the control caused the Singaporeans to be rude and aggressive, as Theroux found them to be? Or did their traditional behavior simply make it easier for the government to control them? Theroux wrote that freedom would be threatened by the Singaporean focus on connecting everyone electronically. How do you think Theroux would view the Internet? Has his concern about reduced freedoms come true or have people been able to avoid government control despite the impact of computers?

Essay Topic 2

In the closing pages, Theroux reflected on how the book could have been different if he had written it as a novel instead of a travel piece. Did he focus too much on what his eyes saw or did he discuss what his imagination knew? Would the book have worked better as fiction? Would it have been necessary for Theroux to invent characters and situations in order to help the narrative flow? Did he make the right choice in writing a travelogue?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout many of the countries Theroux visited for the book, there were many brothels and prostitutes available. Was this a unique phenomenon of Asian societies or was the prostitution simply more out in the open than in Western societies? Did prostitution seem more acceptable in the countries visited by Theroux? Did the greater availability to brothels suggest different cultural attitudes toward the world's oldest profession?

(see the answer keys)

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