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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 rooms were in Bernard's mansion?

2. Where were Ghosh and Rahman from?

3. What did Theroux write was the greatest tragedy of American involvement in Vietnam?

4. What Japanese city did Theroux decide he would never bother visiting again?

5. According to Mr. Thanoo, what metal was mined in Thailand and Malaysia?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Theroux describe Bangkok as a city for transients?

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

3. Why were there no skiers on the mountain in Japan, despite the large amount of perfect snow?

4. How was Theroux treated at the hotel in Mandalay?

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

6. Why did Theroux describe the Burmese government as a Buddhist bureaucracy?

7. How did Theroux describe the clothes laundering he witnessed from the trains in Asia?

8. Why did Theroux refer to Laos as "America's expensive practical joke"?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Yashar Kemal, the Marxist highly critical of the Soviet Union, was full of contradictions, according to Theroux. The author's traveling companion, Molesworth, commented that the Turks lacked character because they were neutral during World War II. Would the inability of a nation to take sides during that pivotal and generation-defining war affect the nation's character? What other nations were neutral during WWII? What impact, if any, did that have on their cultural development later on? Does neutrality lead to dullness or vice versa? Did Theroux seem to find the Turks dull?

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

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?

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