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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Abner condemns the Hawaiian practice of polygamy. What is polygamy?
(a) Public drunkness.
(b) Worshipping false gods.
(c) Stealing.
(d) Being married to more than one person at a time.

2. What best describes the island civilization described in Chapter 2?
(a) Powerful and sophisticated.
(b) Weak and disorganized.
(c) Sickly.
(d) Starving.

3. How does Abner meet John Whipple?
(a) John is Abner's roommate at Yale.
(b) John is Abner's minister.
(c) John is Abner's servant.
(d) John is Abner's cousin.

4. What happens after Abner delivers Urania Hewlett's baby?
(a) Malama throws a party for Urania.
(b) Urania names the baby "Abner."
(c) The baby dies.
(d) Urania dies.

5. What is the name of Teroro's wife?
(a) Timomo.
(b) Bast.
(c) Keto.
(d) Marama.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is an accurate description of the earliest body of water?

2. When Abner's oldest son married Noelani's daughter, how does Abner react?

3. What announcement does Jerusha make when she reaches Hawaii?

4. What god was the island chief's father sacrificed to appease?

5. When a slave woman weeps because her husband is going to be sacrificed, what happens?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Abner Hale react when he is told that Hawaiians, including their Alii Nui (queen), Malama, practice polygamy, and that the rocks in the garden are family gods?

2. What is Abner's reaction when the crew of a docked whaling ship go on a rampage through the settlement, sacking the homes of Hawaiians and raping their women?

3. What were likely to be the earliest living creatures to visit the newly formed island in Chapter 1?

4. What do the king and his brother, Teroro, argue bitterly about, when the time comes to build the first temple on their new island, and what compromise do they reach?

5. How well do King Tamatoa and the high priest get along, and why do you think so?

6. How could new plants and life forms reach an island as isolated as the one described in Chapter 1?

7. In Chapter 3, why does the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) insist that Abner Hale get married before he is allowed to sail to Hawaii as a missionary?

8. What does James Michener think of the civilization that existed on the island of Bora Bora at the time that we first see the villagers in Chapter 2?

9. Teroro is King Tamatoa's brother. Is he loyal to the king or loyal to the high priest? How can you tell?

10. Once the king and his followers settle at their new village site, they make many important decisions about their future. Pick one and discuss it briefly.

(see the answer keys)

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