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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. Where was Ben born?

2. What does Mike decide to stuff into his duffel to take home from Eiju's apartment?

3. What does Eiju ask Mike to do when he dies?

4. What does Mike tell the patrons at Eiju's that his relationship with Eiju is?

5. What kind of food did Eiju cook for Mike when he was a child?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Eiju tell Mike when Mike asks how he first met Mitsuko?

2. What is very upsetting to Mike about how his father Eiju abandoned him and Mitsuko?

3. What makes Mike upset about how Eiju manages his illness?

4. What is unique about Mike's neighborhood in Texas?

5. What upsets Mike about Ben's attitude towards the neighbors?

6. Why does Mike begin helping Eiju run the bar?

7. What does Eiju tell Mike about the bar that surprises Mike?

8. What does Kunihiko start doing as Eiju gets sicker?

9. What seems to surprise Ben about Mike's reaction to his telling Mike he is HIV positive?

10. What does Mike say to Ben shortly before he leaves for Osaka that he knows he should not have said?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Mike's experience of poverty in childhood shape his perceptions as an adult? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How would you describe Mike's relationship with his mother Mitsuko? Is it fair to say it is as Mitsuko describes it, that is, as being "very close," in Chapter 3? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What kind of a friend is Ximena to Ben, and what benefits does he seem to glean from their friendship? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 599 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample