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 religion did Bernard's father follow?

2. How many hotels did Mandalay have?

3. What country's guidebook did Theroux purchase at the bookstore in Osaka?

4. What Sherlock Holmes story did Theroux allude to in Chapter 19?

5. What word was tattooed on the American civilian worker's right hand?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why did Mr. Lau dislike Kuala Lumpur?

4. What were Theroux's main impressions of Singapore?

5. What did Theroux find disturbing about Osaka?

6. How did Theroux feel about the fast trains between cities in Japan?

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

8. How was the American woman living in Sapporo welcomed into the Japanese fold in the story retold in Chapter 27?

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

10. How did Colonel Tuan believe Vietnamese viewed Americans as the war wound down?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In his descriptions of some of the railway stations through which he traveled, Theroux made it clear that many of the stations were ornate and reflected either the culture of the nation or the culture of the former colonial authority. Write an essay outlining how countries use railway station architecture to highlight their unique cultures. Does the effort to incorporate local styles help provide visitors with a better sense and appreciation of the country? What do you think Theroux could have learned from stations without any unique cultural aspects? What impact would homogenization have? Would it make all cultures seem similar?

Essay Topic 2

In his travels through Japan, Theroux found the Japanese had a fondness for violent pornography and attributed this to the fact that the Japanese were overworked and too tried to think about actually having sex. Do you think this is an accurate assumption? What historical experiences or social traditions could encourage an acceptance of violent pornography? Does this attraction provide any deep insight into the Japanese character? Unlike in some of the traditional societies visited by Theroux, Japan seemed open to the idea of women working. Did the obsession with pornography say anything about relations between men and women in Japan?

Essay Topic 3

Theroux opened the book with a description of his childhood love of trains. What was it about trains, as opposed to other forms of transportation, that fascinated him so much? Why did he choose to travel by train through Asia? Would he have had the same rich experiences he had by train if he had instead flown from city to city in Asia? Would he have met the same people and had the same fascinating conversations?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,096 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample