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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. After 19 straight hours of gruesome work, what does Dr. Sasaki and other survivors of the hospital staff do?

2. In Chapter 3, what happens in Hiroshima that causes more devastation?

3. In Hiroshima, Father Kleinsorges is one of thousands of sufferers; in Tokyo...

4. Who is the person Miss Sasaki thinks about while in the hospital?

5. Why doesn't Mrs. Nakamura see a doctor for her ailments?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Mr. Tanimoto keep trying to avoid at the park?

2. What are the views of the people of Hiroshima about the ethics of using the bomb?

3. How does Miss Sasaki spend the first night of the bombing?

4. After he feels better, why is Father Kleinsorge able to enjoy himself at the hospital in Tokyo?

5. Describe Mr. Tanaka.

6. What in particular makes Miss Sasaki uneasy when she sees the ruins of Hiroshima for the first time?

7. What does Mr. Tanimoto see when he awakes in the first light of dawn, the first morning after the bombing?

8. What are the Japanese physicists' concern about the bomb and what do they do about it?

9. What does Miss Sasaki think about while at the hospital and why?

10. What makes Father Kleinsorge a little hysterical, wanting to cry after feeling thirsty in the dreadful heat?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Weeks after the explosion, people experience radiation sickness.

1. How were some of the characters able to excel despite radiation sickness? Would the characters have been able to push as far had they not experienced the trauma of the atomic bomb and radiation sickness?

2. What immediate actions could the Japanese or other governments, like that of the United states, have done to help ease the peoples' radiation sickness?

Essay Topic 2

John Hersey portrays the lives of six survivors of the atomic bomb.

1. Does Hersey give equal content to each character's story in the book or does there seem to be a preference over one or the other? Cite examples to prove your theory.

2. Why were these six characters chosen for the book? What similarities and differences do they possess that enables the story to be told effectively?

Essay Topic 3

After the bomb drops, Dr. Sasaki and Mr. Tanimoto put a great deal of efforts in helping others.

Part 1) Compare and contrast the characters of Dr. Sasaki and the Reverend Mr. Tanimoto. How are they the same? How are they different?

Part 2) In general, who works harder, Dr. Sasaki or Mr. Tanimoto? Cite three examples from the book to support your case.

Part 3) How are the two men affected differently/similarly by what happens to Hiroshima? Cite examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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