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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. There are many similarities between Taoism and Zennism, including the emphasis on the individual and what?

2. Okakura could be brilliant but also ________________; visionary but suffering from cultural myopia, arrogant and pedantic but sentimental.

3. Have Asians in turn developed the same for this culture?

4. Okakura was born in 1862 to whom?

5. What did some people call tea?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is it appropriate for Westerners to learn tea's origin and how it is used elsewhere? Why or why not?

2. What is the history of Taoism and tea?

3. What might a typical Westerner see in the tea ceremony?

4. What is Zennism?

5. What is teaism?

6. Did all Japanese accept modern, Western attitudes and behaviors? How do you know this?

7. Who was Lu Wu? What were his beliefs about tea?

8. What is the editor's opinion of Okakura?

9. Will the West ever truly understand the East? Why or why not? What stereotypes have formed? Are these stereotypes breaking down? Why or why not?

10. Who began modernization in Japan? What did modernization do to Japan, according to the author?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Okakura relates the Taoist tale of the Harp.

Part 1) Describe this tale. Why does Okakura relate this tale? How is it tied to Japanese culture? What does it reinforce?

Part 2) Describe a Western tale. What does it reveal about Western culture? How do the Eastern and Western tales compare?

Part 3) How do these tales illustrate the differences in Eastern and Western culture and thinking? How might they aid in building relations between the East and the West?

Essay Topic 2

Tea masters were conscious of art as a living, present influence.

Part 1) Support this statement with facts from this book. How does this also reinforce Eastern philosophical and religious beliefs?

Part 2) How do Westerners view art? How does this view affect how Westerners treat art and what art is made?

Part 3) How do you view art? How have you come to this belief? How does it compare to the tea master's view of art?

Essay Topic 3

The tea room, or Sukiya, is a simple cottage.

Part 1) Give a full description of a tea room, or Sukiya. What has influenced the design of a Sukiya? How has the Sukiya evolved over time? Why?

Part 2) Describe the Japanese tea ceremony. How are the design of the tea room and the service that takes place within connected?

Part 3) What structures exist in our culture that serve some sort of religious or ritualistic purpose? How is the ritual tied to the design of the structure?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,000 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample