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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 Matsuda say the smell of burning means now that the war is over?

2. How do the art students treat Sasaki when he changes his style?

3. What does Setsuko say in Kawabe Park that irritates Ono?

4. What does Matsuda say about his own present-day perspective on life during his last conversation with Ono?

5. What famous Japanese artist does Moriyama emulate?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ono answer Ichiro's question about why men drink sake?

2. What effect did Moriyama try to create in his paintings?

3. How does Ono believe a teacher should regard his students diverging from his teachings?

4. Why does Ono approve of his teacher's distancing himself from his students' discussions?

5. After re-establishing contact with Matsuda during Noriko's marriage negotiations, what contact have Ono and Matsuda had before Matsuda dies?

6. What does Matsuda say about his own perspective now that he is old and ill?

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

8. What does Matsuda believe was his and Ono's great misfortune?

9. How has Ichiro changed in the year since Ono last saw him?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do you see as Ishiguro's overarching theme in this story? Why did he write it? What is he trying to teach, and to whom? Consider the fact that the book was published first in English.

Essay Topic 2

What do you make of the fact that Ono's paintings are not on display even in his own home, and that he will not show them even to his own grandson? What does it tell you that Ono will not draw or paint with Ichiro, although he encourages the boy to draw? What does it tell you that at the end of the story he tells Matsuda that he is painting again? Analyze what Ono's art work means to him in the context of these facts.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the personalities of Noriko and Setsuko based on their conversation and behavior. Remember that Ono comments on the character of the two girls. Do your observations agree with his?

(see the answer keys)

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