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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 does the group of four friends find when they return to their village?

2. What news does Yoko's teacher, Mr. Enomoto deliver to the class?

3. What age is Yoko at the start of the story?

4. When Hideyo leaves his friends, where does he head?

5. What is stolen from Hideyo's room at home?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the students perform at the hospital?

2. For the first time, Ko cries as the family sets sail towards Japan. Why do you think she cries?

3. What scene do Yoko, Ko, and mother encounter when they arrive at the train station?

4. What evidence is there in Chapter 5 that indicates that Ko's place and role in the family has changed?

5. Early in Chapter 5, Ko wishes that Yoko had been killed. Do you think she still feels this way at the end of the chapter? Why or why not?

6. What sort of traditional Japanese activities is Yoko learning at school?

7. Why do you think that Mother seems dismayed about how Ko procures the tomatoes and corn instead of marveling at Ko's resourcefulness?

8. What war-time preparations are being made by Yoko's family in Chapter 1?

9. The Korean officials are quite strict about letting only 100 people on the boat. One official says, "the rule is the rule. That is what your government always said to us." Why do you think the soldier delights in saying this to the hundreds of people waiting in line?

10. Why is mother upset that Hideyo wants to join the army?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Despite all that Yoko endures, how is she able to maintain her identity throughout the book? What obstacles does she encounter? How does she overcome them?

Essay Topic 2

What role does family play in the book? How is the importance of family symbolized? At what cost does the family try to stay together? Are there characters in the book who are not blood relatives but act as such? Give specific examples.

Essay Topic 3

So Far From the Bamboo Grove is seen as a controversial book by some who have even fought to have it removed from English curricula. Why do you think people perceive this book as controversial? Cite specific examples from the text which could be construed as controversial.

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