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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 the condition of the warehouse when Ko and Yoko arrive?

2. Why does Hideyo climb a tree instead of playing dead?

3. What does Yoko ask Mother at the end of Chapter 8?

4. Where is the red light that Hideyo sees coming from?

5. What was father's name seal made of?

Short Essay Questions

1. In order to survive for as long as Hideyo has in the conditions he has endured, what character traits do you think he possesses?

2. Why do you think that mother insists that Yoko and Ko continue their education?

3. How does Ko continue to demonstrate her survival instincts in Chapter 9?

4. Do you think the geese Hideyo sees flying are a symbol of anything? If so, what?

5. Why do you think Yoko titled her essay, "Understanding?"

6. At this point in the story, what defines "normal" for Yoko and Ko?

7. What are the physical and psychological obstacles facing Hideyo in Chapter 6?

8. How would you characterize Yoko's classmates' experience during the final months of the war based on the way she is received?

9. Why do you think Yoko would choose to write about her experiences at school rather than the ordeal she and her family endured when leaving Korea?

10. Upon mother's and Yoko's reunion at the train station, Yoko thinks to herself that she suddenly "felt grown up." What brings about this change in Yoko's sense of self?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

War is a time when man's inhumanity to man emerges. Cite three examples in the book when humanity reigned in the face of adversity.

Essay Topic 2

Aside from physically being so far from the bamboo grove, how are Yoko and her family symbolically so far from it? In other words, what does the bamboo grove symbolize for them?

Essay Topic 3

Although the Kawashima family loses virtually all of their possessions including their home, what do they never lose despite their circumstances? Cite three examples and explain.

(see the answer keys)

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