View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ono introduce Kenji into the conversation in Noriko's kitchen?

2. What qualities does Ono claim he shared with Matsuda when they were younger?

3. Why does the smell of burning make Ono uneasy?

4. How does Moriyama respond to his students' comments about his painting?

5. What did Ono feel was missing the night he won the award?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Ono say the New Japan proved about him and about Matsuda?

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

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

5. How does Ono explain Naguchi's suicide to Ichiro?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The constancy of change is a theme in this novel. Select a secondary character such as Shintaro, Matsuda, or Kuroda and analyze the changes they undergo as the story progresses.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Naguchi is a character we never meet directly. Ono explains the musician's suicide to his grandson, Ichiro. There are some differences between this conversation and the opinions Ono expresses when Miyake tells Ono that his employer committed suicide and that Miyake finds the action admirable. Has Ono changed? If so, what has changed him?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 660 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample