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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. What was the impasse beast's old job?

2. What is the name of the sacrificial beast the narrator tries to help?

3. Who is a good friend of the narrator's?

4. Where did many of the sorrowful beasts work for years?

5. What happens when an impasse beast ages?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why are birds illegal to have as pets?

3. How did being in close contact with a joyous beast seem to affect the mayor of Yong'An?

4. How does the unnamed narrator describe her own work?

5. What is unusual about the death of sacrificial beasts?

6. In Part I, what does the narrator's professor tell her might have happened to the male sorrowful beast Cloud?

7. What do humans decide to do with the remainder of the sacrificial beasts in Part II?

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

9. How does the sorrowful beast Cloud eventually die?

10. Where does the narrator like to hang out, and what does she do there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does the narrator seem so drawn to birds, and what do the birds symbolize - including the phoenix - throughout this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does Ge describe and explore the sacrifices that parents make for their offspring through different characters and at different points in this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

In what instances does Ge employ irony throughout the novel - perhaps especially in the naming of the classes of beasts themselves? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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