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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 do the soldiers eat as they are walking in Chapter 5?

2. What does Kiguchi ask the tour guide about?

3. Where are Kiguchi and Tsukada walking together during Kiguchi's flashback?

4. What does Isobe write about his wife?

5. What is the cause of Isobe's daughter leaving home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Enami give the Japanese who are about to go to India on a tour?

2. For what does Isobe tell Mitsuko he is searching?

3. In Kiguchi's flashback, how do the soldiers feed themselves along the Highway of Death?

4. What does Isobe learn about his wife in Chapter 1?

5. What happens to the myna bird Numada acquires, as described in Chapter 4?

6. About what does Mrs. Sanja complain while riding on the bus?

7. How does Mitsuko force Tsu to drink at a party, and what happens?

8. What does Tsukada confess to Kiguchi about how Tsukada managed to feed Kiguchi during the war in Burma?

9. What does Tsukada ask of Kiguchi ten years after the two encounter each other in Tokyo?

10. What is Numada's occupation, and what is he considering purchasing in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

Define plot and include the definitions of the most important elements of a plot. Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not? Write a brief synopsis of the plot of Deep River, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot? Give a brief synopsis of any important sub-plots.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following to discuss:

Choose two significant symbols and trace and analyze their appearance in Deep River. Are these universal symbols that would have the same meaning in any culture? What other symbols could portray the same idea? Why do you think Endo chooses the symbols he does? Consider the symbols of the myna bird, the Ginko tree and the Ganges in your discussion.

Essay Topic 3

Often, authors will write about what they know, and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Shusaku Endo. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Endo's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Endo's probable agenda concerning that idea.

(see the answer keys)

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