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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. What is found where Mrs. Kawakami's and the Migi-Hidari once stood?

2. Why doesn't Miss Suzuki want Matsuda to feed his fish?

3. Why does the Tortoise often destroy his own paintings?

4. How long before learning of his death had Ono visited his old friend?

5. How many students has Moriyama had at his villa?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Matsuda say he never married?

2. How has Ichiro changed in the year since Ono last saw him?

3. What do we learn about Setsuko from Ono's conversation with Matsuda?

4. What happened to Moriyama's best student, Sasaki?

5. After re-establishing contact with Matsuda during Noriko's marriage negotiations, what contact have Ono and Matsuda had before Matsuda dies?

6. Why does the smell of burning still make Ono uneasy while he is relaxing in Matsuda's garden?

7. How does Matsuda console himself when thinking of his actions during the war?

8. How does Ono believe a teacher should regard his students diverging from his teachings?

9. How does Ono explain Naguchi's suicide to Ichiro?

10. Ono recalls the influence of Moriyama on his own behavior. What does he say he adopted from his teacher?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

First, Shintaro calls Ono a traitor. Second, we learn about the artwork that has made him call his friend a traitor. Third, we learn of Matsuda's persuasive conversation that induced Ono to change his painting style, and fourth, we learn that the work resulted in his expulsion from Moriyama's tutelage. Analyze the way the clarity of the story is affected by this type of organization. Why do you think Ishiguro chose not to tell is story in simple chronological order? What effect does dealing with time in this way have on you as a reader?

Essay Topic 2

We learn about Suichi's character through what he instructs Setsuko, what he wants for Ichiro, and the way he behaves when Kenji's ashes are brought home. Describe this young man based on textual evidence. Ono expresses the belief that Suichi has been "embittered." What embittered him?

Essay Topic 3

Ishiguro devotes a great deal of description to the physical venues of Ono's city. Take the point of view of a reporter who is visiting the city to report on its postwar condition in 1948. As a reporter, what would you say about the parks? The homes? The pleasure district? If you returned in 1950, what would you report? Have there been significant changes? In your second paragraph, take the point of view of the same reporter returning after two years to observe the physical differences. What is still there? What is gone? What is there that wasn't before?

(see the answer keys)

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