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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the unnamed narrator used to take a particular meal to her father's observatory as an excuse to spend time with him there, what meal did she always bring?
(a) Dinner.
(b) Breakfast.
(c) Lunch.
(d) Midnight snack.

2. Where is the hatch located that serves as the only way to get into R's hiding place in the home of the unnamed narrator?
(a) In the ceiling of the basement.
(b) In the floor of her late father's office.
(c) In the floor of the basement.
(d) In the floor of the kitchen.

3. Who originally comes up with the idea for R to hide from the Memory Police in the unnamed narrator's home?
(a) Professor Inui.
(b) The old man.
(c) The unnamed narrator.
(d) R.

4. How many days does it take for the body of water used for disappearing to return to normal?
(a) 3.
(b) 5.
(c) 30.
(d) 12.

5. A crowd gathers on the banks of what body of water in Chapter 6 to watch the latest objects disappear?
(a) The bay.
(b) The lake.
(c) The river.
(d) The bog.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many black garbage bags full of the unnamed narrator's late father's belongings do the five Memory Police officers seize after their hour-long search?

2. When the raid on the strip mall begins, the unnamed narrator hides behind what object while she clutches the envelope that holds her latest manuscript?

3. The unnamed narrator remarks that her newest novel is about a woman who works as a what?

4. On what sort of seat did the unnamed narrator used to sit as a child in her mother's studio?

5. When the unnamed narrator hears tapping on the glass and finds Professor Inui and his family outside her home, the unnamed narrator recalls that the boy is how many years old?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reason does the narrator visit R's office in Chapter 10?

2. Discuss an instance when Ogawa uses a metaphor or simile to demonstrate the desolation that begins to characterize the island after many disappearances.

3. In Chapter 7, what claim does the old man make about the Memory Police while trying to reassure the narrator of her safety?

4. What particular aspect of the birds' disappearance bothers the narrator the most?

5. For what reason does R at first reject the narrator's offer of help in Chapter 10?

6. Once R agrees to accept the narrator's offer to hide him, what instructions does she give him?

7. What type of artist was the unnamed narrator's mother and why is this detail significant?

8. What is named as "the first duty of the Memory Police" (14)?

9. What type of document is presented within the text for the first, but not the last, time in Chapter 6?

10. What do the black garbage bags symbolize in Chapter 2?

(see the answer keys)

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