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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. Why does Ai-lan dance with people she doesn't want to dance with?

2. Why does Yuan find himself hating tradition?

3. What reason does Yuan give to Meng for not joining the cause?

4. Why does Yuan dislike the 17-year-old daughter of the landlady?

5. Why does Yuan dislike being around the poor people?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Yuan finally decide to learn to dance at the pleasure houses?

2. Why do Sheng and Yuan separate once they arrive in America?

3. What does Yuan do while he is in the countryside?

4. How does Yuan feel when he is told that his father has arranged a marriage for him?

5. When the group of farmers crowd Yuan's room, what does the eldest say to him?

6. Why does Yuan seem to despise the American people?

7. What does the letter from Yuan's father in Chapter 1 say, and what is Yuan's reaction to it?

8. Why is Yuan so proud to call Ai-lan's mother his own mother?

9. How is danger for the revolutionaries foreshadowed when Yuan, Ai-lan, and the lady mother are on the way to meet Yuan's uncle?

10. After he finds out his father is sick, why do the guards accompany Yuan back to his father's home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Yuan is often caught between two extremes and has trouble choosing one wholeheartedly. Give three pairs of extremes that Yuan must choose between. What does he finally choose? Why? What causes Yuan from picking one extreme over another?

Essay Topic 2

Compare Yuan's life in China to his life in America. How does Yuan's perception of the events around him affect the way he lives? What is Yuan's quality of life like in each location? Are Yuan's opinions of both America and China accurate? Why or why not? Cite at least five examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Mary describes the differences between idealism and enthusiasm. What are they? Which category does Yuan fall in? Why? Choose at least two other characters and describe how they are also either idealistic or enthusiastic. Why? Cite at least four examples from the novel.

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