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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. Whose suspected crimes as an American spy caused Yue Daiyun to be questioned about their friendship?

2. What interrupted Yue Daiyun's celebration of her son's one-month birthday?

3. Why was Yue Daiyun relieved of her teaching duties in 1965?

4. Why were the peasants reluctant to accept the land that they were given during land reform?

5. Why would a good Communist mistrust his own conscience?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the one-month birthday an important event in China?

2. What is the difference between one who is an "alien class element" and one who is a "counter-revolutionary"?

3. Why had Yue Daiyun's earlier visit to the Soviet Union been disillusioning?

4. What was unusual for Yue Daiyun about the National Day Celebration in 1963?

5. How was Yue Daiyun used during the Four Clean-Ups campaign in 1965?

6. What advice does Lao Wei give Yue Daiyun about survival in the countryside?

7. What were "middle characters"? Why were they considered unacceptable?

8. Why did Yue Daiyun object to Lao Tang's brother's wife?

9. What does it mean to "draw a line" between yourself and another person?

10. Why was Yue Daiyun unworried about the criticism she was to face?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Landlords were the most vilified of any group described in this story. Why was their condemnation so universal? What happened to them? To their property?

Essay Topic 2

Yue Daiyun describes her opinion about Stalin and her feelings at his death. In your essay, compare and contrast her thoughts about him with the opinion of Western civilization. Why is there such a difference?

Essay Topic 3

Many times Yue Daiyun decides that her own conscience must be ignored in favor of the Party line of thinking. In your essay, give examples of this decision and its results in her life. What happens when the individual completely subverts his will for what he believes to be the collective good?

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