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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 Ono say in Noriko's kitchen that upsets Noriko and Setsuko?

2. Why does Ichiro say spinach is his favorite food?

3. How does Ichiro try to be grown-up when he meets Ono in the park?

4. What news does Ono give Matsuda about Noriko?

5. Why does the songwriter Naguchi commit suicide?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Years ago, Matsuda had accused Ono of having a narrow artist's perspective. What does Ono say about his perspective now that he is retired?

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

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

5. What does Matsuda say the smell of burning most likely means now that the war is long over?

6. How does Matsuda console himself when thinking of his actions during the war?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Twice in the story, authority figures burned Ono's paintings. Compare the two situations. Did they have the same purpose? Were they trying to help the young man or hurt him? How do you know? Use textual evidence to support your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Ono expresses the belief that his confession of guilt about his war activities rescued the miai from discomfort, and made relaxed social interaction possible. Do you think other characters would have the same opinion? Would things look different from another perspective? Tell the story of the miai from Noriko's point of view.

Essay Topic 3

We meet Taro Saito only briefly in this story, and yet Ishiguro establishes a clear personality for him through his actions and conversation. What do you know about Taro? How do you learn it? Analyze this character based on the information you have.

(see the answer keys)

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