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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 Eiju ask Mike to do when they visit the shrine together?

2. Who comes to have dinner regularly at Eiju's as Eiju enters the later stages of his illness?

3. Where was Ben born?

4. Who does Tan live with?

5. What does Eiju start doing more frequently as he gets sicker?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Eiju as he gets sicker and sicker?

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

3. What surprises Mike about the name of Eiju's bar?

4. How does Eiju generally treat Mike when Mike first shows up in Osaka?

5. How does Eiju feel about tourists in his bar?

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

7. What does Mike eventually realize Mary and Harold, his neighbors, have in mind for him?

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

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

10. What does Mike think of Kunihiko?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the reader find out that Benson is HIV positive, and why do you think Washington chose to let the reader know this information at this point in the book and in this manner? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How do both Ben and Mike seem to handle the idea of monogamy in their relationship? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think cooking symbolizes to both Mike and Mitsuko? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 550 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample