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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. Who is the beast who ingratiates himself into the narrator's life?

2. What does the narrator try to do after the impasse beast leaves?

3. What kind of creatures are joyous beasts?

4. What was the impasse beast's old job?

5. What creature does Li Chun turn into in the joyous beasts story?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator think the sacrificial beasts sacrifice themselves for?

2. Why do sorrowful beasts seek only one mate in life?

3. How does Lefty "tame" the sorrowful beast?

4. Why does the narrator feel guilty about her role in the killing of the sacrificial beasts?

5. Why is Lucia upset by her visit to Cloudtop Towers?

6. What happens to Rain in Part I that is tragic?

7. What kind of relationship does the narrator have with her professor?

8. Why can the sorrowful beasts never smile?

9. What kind of relationship does the narrator have with Lucia?

10. How does Ge describe the smile of a sorrowful beast?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Ge describe as some of the most significant differences between beasts and humans? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why and how does the narrator experience guilt over the course of the novel - especially as the feeling relates to her professor, Charley, and Zhong Liang? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

What does the killing of both beasts and humans - in large numbers - at different points in the novel reveal about the government in this world Ge has built for the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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