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Having spent most of the first 40 years of her life in China, Pearl Buck (also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu) centered much of her writing on that country. She won both a Pulitzer Prize (for 'The Good Earth') and a Nobel Prize ("for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces").
2 quizzes and 20 trivia questions.
1.
  Buck's "The Good Earth"   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
For the 2006-2007 Academic Decathlon year, we students had to read this stunning novel. Let's see how much you know it!
Average, 10 Qns, specialkarah, Jun 20 20
Average
specialkarah
Jun 20 20
341 plays
2.
  The Good Earth    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The book "The Good Earth" is the work of Pearl Buck. How much do you know about the book?
Average, 10 Qns, biohazard930, Jun 20 20
Average
biohazard930
Jun 20 20
450 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What was the name of the grainer who Wang Lung did business with?

From Quiz "Buck's "The Good Earth""




Related Topics
  Contemporary Literature and Fiction [Literature] (22 quizzes)


Pearl S. Buck Trivia Questions

1. When was "The Good Earth" first published in England?

From Quiz
The Good Earth

Answer: 1931

Pearl Buck wrote "Dragon Seed" in 1942, "My Several Words" in 1954, and "The Kennedy Women" as well as "China As I See It" in 1970.

2. What treasure does O-lan request that Wang Lung let her keep?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: two pearls

After they return from the south, Wang Lung discovers that his wife O-lan has hidden some treasure from him, which he decides to trade for land. She asks if she may keep two pearls, and he agrees; however, he takes them away later to give to his concubine.

3. What is Wang Lung's first wife's name?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: O-Lan

The book starts out on his wedding day.

4. How many children did Wang Lung have altogether?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: six

He had six children. First he had two sons, then a daughter, then another daughter who died immediately after she was born. Finally, he had twins, a boy and a girl.

5. When the great famine struck Wang Lung's land, he traveled to a city in which direction?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: South

He traveled to the south on the 'fire wagon'.

6. What was the name of the grainer who Wang Lung did business with?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: Liu

Liu was Wang Lung's grainer. Wang Lung also arranged to have his eldest son marry Liu's daughter and the girl twin to marry one of Liu's sons.

7. What was the name the schoolteacher gave Wang Lung's eldest son?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: Nung En

Nung signified one whose wealth came from the earth.

8. Who was Wang Lung's 'second wife', whom he bought from the Tea House?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: Lotus

When he bought her, he also brought the servant Cuckoo in order to care for Lotus.

9. What does Wang Lung desire his youngest son to become?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: farmer

After his first two sons go to the school, Wang Lung makes a promise to himself that he'll make a farmer out of his third son. However, when his son gets old enough to decide what he wants, he takes up books. Then after Wang Lung's cousin stops for a visit, he decides that he wants to be a soldier just like the cousin. Later he runs away and joins the army against his father's wishes.

10. Near the end of the book, what was the name of the young servant whom Wang Lung had an affair with?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: Pear Blossom

By this time, O-lan was dead, and Cuckoo and Lotus had grown old and somewhat fat.

11. When they go to the south, O-lan gets angry at her father-in-law and sons and slaps them till they cry. Why does she do this?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: They are laughing when they're supposed to be begging

O-lan's father-in-law and her sons are begging for the first time, but they don't earn a single coin because they're too jolly and pleasant-looking. So O-lan slaps them till tears fall and they look miserable, for that's the proper demeanor for beggers.

12. When the doctor diagnosed O-lan's disease, what was his final price for a guaranteed recovery?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: 5,000 silver

He said 10 silver for a possible recovery. At first he said 500 silver for a guaranteed recovery, and then changed his price to 5000 silver after Wang Lung was willing to pay the 500. Wang Lung gave 10 silver for the possible recovery.

13. Who will O-lan allow in the room with her when she's giving birth?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: No one

O-lan won't let anyone in the room with her when she's in labor. The first time this happens, Wang Lung asks if he should get a woman, or midwife, but she refuses. Cuckoo is the servant of Wang Lung's concubine.

14. When Wang Lung asked how many grandchildren he had near the end of the book, his son said "Eleven sons and ____ daughters". How many daughters?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: eight

That is a lot of kids, being split up between two families!

15. When Wang Lung's cousin comes to the house with soldiers to quarter there, he desires one of the slaves. Which one does he want?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: Pear Blossom

Wang Lung's cousin wants Pear Blossom, the beautiful pale child that waits on Lotus Flower, Wang Lung's concubine. However, Pear Blossom fears him and she appeals to Wang Lung to protect her. He says that she doesn't have to go, and a nameless wench happily accepts the offer. The cousin sleeps with the wench and leaves her pregnant. Lotus Flower gets angry with her slave for a while. Later on, Wang Lung desires to sleep with Pear Blossom, and since she constantly says that she likes old man, she of course agrees to do so. However, Wang Lung also wanted to marry her to his youngest son to keep him from joining the war. He failed in this endeavor. O-lan, Wang Lung's wife, was a slave of the House of Hwang until Wang Lung married her. Cuckoo was Lotus Flower's old servant before Pear Blossom came along.

16. What drug do Wang Lung and his eldest son use to subdue Wang Lung's uncle and his family?

From Quiz Buck's "The Good Earth"

Answer: opium

Wang Lung's uncle forces himself upon his nephew. He is a lazy fellow, and he brings his wife and son. All three of them demand that Wang Lung buy them things. The latter can't do anything about it because the uncle is the leader of a gang of bandits. So, Wang Lung and his eldest son devise a way to keep the uncle from his demands, and they go out to purchase opium. Selling opium was prohibited in China in 1906. Since this book takes place around the 1920's or 1930's, Wang Lung had to purchase the opium behind the scenes. The opium causes Wang Lung's uncle and aunt to dream, but it does nothing to his cousin.

17. What color did Wang Lung dye eggs when his first son was born?

From Quiz The Good Earth

Answer: red

Red was a very significant color in ancient Chinese culture.

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