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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. Why does Matsuda think the two men should not blame themselves for their earlier actions?

2. What is the "floating world"?

3. When does Ono feel the sense of triumph he had hoped for?

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

5. What had Ono completed the same week he received the award?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Ono console himself that he did not visit his old friend as often as he had intended to?

3. The reader learns some news about Noriko at the same time Matsuda does. What is the news?

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

5. Why didn't Moriyama applaud his student's maturing talent as an artist?

6. Why did Moriyama's students never comment directly to him about his paintings?

7. When does Ono achieve his greatest feeling of triumph?

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

9. Why is Ono irritated at Setsuko's insistence that Saito never heard of Ono until the miai?

10. Why does Ono admire Sugimura's work on Kawabe Park, even though Sugimura failed to accomplish his goals?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Bridge of Hesitation is an important symbol in this story and Ono says that he spends a great deal of time there. What does the bridge represent? Are there various possible meanings? Consider the fact that in the midst of the destruction of much of the area, the bridge remained.

Essay Topic 2

At the miai, Saito suggests that boys should not be confined, but should be allowed to run free even when they hurt themselves. He uses this as an argument in support of the street demonstrations which he views as legitimate use of freedom of speech. The maturation of boys to men is a significant theme in this story. The men, from Matsuda arguing with his caregiver, Suzuki, to Ono's arguments with his daughters about Ichiro seeing a scary movie and drinking sake, argue for freedom and the women urge restraint and greater care. Using examples from the text, select one character and write about their maturation process. Ichiro, Kenji, Kuroda, or Ono himself would be good possibilities. Are these developing men symbols of their country as a whole? is it, as Taro Saito suggests, a baby democracy learning how to govern itself?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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