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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. Whom does O-lan suggest Wang Lung buy land from instead of from the House of Hwang in Chapter 5?

2. How many young lords are described at the House of Hwang in Chapter 5?

3. What does Wang Lung begin referring to his daughter as in Chapter 9?

4. When Wang Lung's father went to request a slave as a wife for his son, he requested what trait "above all"?

5. What food does O-lan give to her two sons as Wang Lung's family departs for their journey in Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Wang Lung and his family witness as they pass the House of Hwang in Chapter 10?

2. What causes Wang Lung to finally decide to take his family to the city in the south in Chapter 9?

3. What does Wang Lung's father complain about in Chapter 1?

4. How do Wang Lung and his family reach the city in the south in Chapter 10?

5. What preparations does Wang Lung make when he returns to his land in Chapter 15?

6. How does O-lan go about earning money to keep her family alive once they've reached the city in Chapter 11?

7. How does Wang Lung perceive his wedding day when he awakens in Chapter 1?

8. Why did Wang Lung's father choose a slave for Wang Lung's wife?

9. How does Wang Lung respond when he discovers O-lan's jewels in Chapter 16?

10. How does Wang Lung perceive the city of Kiangsu in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the impacts of The Good Earth’s publication. How did Americans reading the novel in the late 1930s perceive it? How did the novel change perceptions about the Chinese? How has reading the novel changed your own perceptions?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of O-lan in The Good Earth. How old is O-lan when she is sold into slavery? What leads to O-lan’s marriage to Wang Lung? Do you think that O-lan is happy to be married? Why or why not? How does O-lan’s character evolve in the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the plot structure of The Good Earth. Where does the exposition transition to rising action? Where does the climax take place? What are the conflicts that the protagonist faces in the climax? How are these conflicts resolved in the denouement?

(see the answer keys)

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