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. In "Six Weeks of Horror," Chang states that prior to the war, the population of Nanking is about how many people?

2. Why, according to Kirby, is Ms. Chang's book so important?

3. According to the Introduction, Europeans date the beginning of World War II in which year?

4. A German diplomat reports that many Chinese women commit suicide by jumping into the Yangtze River between 1937 and 1938. Why?

5. What motto sums up the mindset that Japanese cadets were taught to adopt?

Short Essay Questions

1. Briefly describe the three different occupations of Nanking.

2. Describe Matsui Iwane's reaction to the events in Nanking after he was once again well enough to take command of the soldiers.

3. In the Foreword, what does Kirby say was unique about the Rape of Nanking in regards to the way it was carried out?

4. In "Six Weeks of Horror," why do the Chinese civilians in Nanking initially believe that the Japanese occupation may not be so bad?

5. Describe the attitude of Lieutenant Colonel Hashimoto Kingoro about Japan's future in his book, quoted in "The Path to Nanking."

6. Briefly describe Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vautrin's role in the Nanking Safety Zone.

7. According to Kirby, what haunts Chinese-Japanese relations today, and why?

8. Describe the broad time line and details of the Rape of Nanking as outlined in the Introduction.

9. Describe the methods used by the Japanese army to subdue the larger Chinese population of Nanking, as described in "Six Weeks of Terror."

10. According to the Introduction, in what two ways was Japan's mindset as it set out to conquer neighboring nations similar to the way Nazi Germany's mindset would be a few years later? How are the two tactics related?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The United States and other countries stepped in to put an end to Hitler's Holocaust, yet no such attempt was made to stop the atrocities in Nanking. In a well-developed essay, discuss the reasons why the world community largely stayed out of the events in Nanking, though reports of what was going on were widespread. In addition, discuss what responsibility the world has to intervene when incidents such as Nanking occur.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the process by which Japanese soldiers learned to view the Chinese as less than human. At what point did this conditioning begin, and what cultural factors enabled it to be so successful?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the historical vision of Nanking with the version seen after the Japanese occupation. What major changes could be noticed? How had the population changed? How had the focus of the city changed?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,149 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample