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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. How much did it cost to go to the Japanese bath?
2. In what year was the Goktiek Viaduct built?
3. What religion did Bernard's father follow?
4. What did Theroux write was the greatest tragedy of American involvement in Vietnam?
5. How many people had been killed since the cease-fire (as of December 1973)?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe Theroux's visit to the tourism office in Vietnam.
2. What are the differences between Japanese and American consumers?
3. How did Mr. Bernard treat Theroux at his mansion in maymyo?
4. Why was the man on the train to Calcutta running away from his girlfriend?
5. How was Theroux treated at the hotel in Mandalay?
6. How was the American woman living in Sapporo welcomed into the Japanese fold in the story retold in Chapter 27?
7. How did Westerners and Japanese react to the suicide of the Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima?
8. How did the family planning experts react to Theroux's questioning about the sizes of their own families?
9. What was Theroux's reaction to the sight of the Goktiek Viaduct?
10. What did Theroux find disturbing about Osaka?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In his travels through Japan, Theroux found the Japanese had a fondness for violent pornography and attributed this to the fact that the Japanese were overworked and too tried to think about actually having sex. Do you think this is an accurate assumption? What historical experiences or social traditions could encourage an acceptance of violent pornography? Does this attraction provide any deep insight into the Japanese character? Unlike in some of the traditional societies visited by Theroux, Japan seemed open to the idea of women working. Did the obsession with pornography say anything about relations between men and women in Japan?
Essay Topic 2
Theroux opened the book with a description of his childhood love of trains. What was it about trains, as opposed to other forms of transportation, that fascinated him so much? Why did he choose to travel by train through Asia? Would he have had the same rich experiences he had by train if he had instead flown from city to city in Asia? Would he have met the same people and had the same fascinating conversations?
Essay Topic 3
In his travels through India, Theroux seemed to be convinced India was doomed to failure in the long run unless the population was brought under control. He had also described in disbelieving terms the family planning officials who themselves had large families. Do you believe Theroux was accurate in his claims? How would reining in population figures help a nation develop economically? Is there a point at which nations cannot cope with a large population or can nations figure out a way to successfully spread wealth despite large numbers?
This section contains 1,096 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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