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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. For whom does Wang Lung buy a coffin for also when he purchases one for O-lan in Chapter 26?

2. Who is the grain dealer that Lotus suggests Wang Lung speak to about marrying his son to the grain dealer's daughter in Chapter 23?

3. Why does Wang Lung give silver to his uncle's son in Chapter 29?

4. What is Cuckoo's job at the tea house in Chapter 18?

5. How long after O-lan's death is her burial arranged to take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who looks after the arrangement of Wang Lung's second son's marriage in Chapter 29? How are the arrangements described?

2. How does Wang Lung respond when O-lan warns him of his eldest son visiting Lotus in Chapter 24?

3. How is Lotus's arrival at Wang Lung's home described in Chapter 20? Who is present for her arrival?

4. How does Wang Lung's family go about relocating to the city in Chapter 29? Who is the last to leave the land?

5. How is O-lan's behavior as she lays dying described in Chapter 26?

6. What does Wang Lung's young cousin do that causes conflict in Wang Lung's house in Chapter 31?

7. What is significant about Wang Lung's uncle's revelation that he is associated with the redbeards in Chapter 23?

8. What does O-lan say regarding Cuckoo as she lays dying in Chapter 26?

9. How would you describe Wang Lung's sons in Chapter 30? How are each of his sons different?

10. Whom does Lotus suggest to Wang Lung for an arranged marriage for his son in Chapter 23?

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

Why do you think the author has chosen to relate the narrative of The Good Earth from a third-person narrator? How would the story differ if it were related from Wang Lung’s point of view? Is the narrator’s perspective limited or omniscient and how does this affect the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the marriage customs of early twentieth century China as seen in the novel. What were the expected roles of women and men? How were marriages arranged? How would you compare the gender roles established in this culture and society with your own?

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