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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 narrator fantasize about after his meeting with Omi in the school yard?

2. What is the name of the female magician who inspires the narrator?

3. After Omi is expelled, from what physical ailment does the narrator suffer?

4. How do the adults communicate after returning from a shining city in the narrator's dream?

5. In the first attempt to execute Sebastian, what weapon was used?

Short Essay Questions

1. What attracts the narrator to soldiers as a youth?

2. When Omi and the narrator lock eyes during a game of "King of the Hill," what does the narrator imagine has taken place?

3. Why is the narrator's opportunity to live with his father cut short?

4. Who was Sebastian of Reni's "Saint Sebastian"?

5. Why does the narrator choose not to volunteer as a special cadet?

6. Why does the narrator feel he has cheated his way through life?

7. What physical actions does the narrator take in order to appear to be tough?

8. Why is the narrator unable to participate in gym class the day that Omi demonstrates how to use the bars?

9. While in school with Omi, what type of boy is the narrator attracted to?

10. Why do adults seem concerned at the narrator's insistence that he remembers his birth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the narrator loses his sister, he experiences true devastation over the loss of a loved one. This surprises him, as believed himself incapable of feeling true emotion because of a lifetime of masks. Write an essay taking a stand on whether the narrator ever truly lost himself because of the masks that he wore.

1) Why does the narrator begin wearing masks?

2) How do these masks distance him from real life?

3) Does the narrator ever really lose himself? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator spends much of his early life fantasizing about blood, death, and gore. Because of the war, the narrator is confronted with the reality of this world. Instead of being excited, as the narrator expected he would be, he is repulsed. Examine the dichotomy in the narrator's opinions towards violence.

Essay Topic 3

The narrator is immature in his relationship with women. When he meets Sonoko, she too is somewhat immature.

1) How does this immaturity help Sonoko and the narrator's relationship work?

2) What are some examples of immature interactions?

3) How does the immaturity affect their relationship?

(see the answer keys)

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