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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 Tojo own?

2. What reason does Takezo give for returning to the village?

3. What does the priest call the action of killing the men?

4. Why does Jo kill the dog?

5. Who does Matahachi watch being killed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the reasons Seijuro cannot fight in this chapter?

2. Why does Akemi's mother demand Akemi continue to steal from corpses?

3. How is Matahachi conned out of money in this section?

4. How is Matahachi's mother rude to Takeo's family in this section?

5. How does Oko prepare for Tsujikaze's visit?

6. Why does the blacksmith want to kill Musashi?

7. How does Musashi escape Osugi and Gon?

8. How do the villagers punish Takuan?

9. Why do Osugi and Gon want to kill Musashi?

10. What signs are there that stealing from corpses is becoming a lucrative business?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do Muashi and Matachi fall out with each other during the novel? What does it say about there friendship that they eventually reconcile? What does the novel say about friendship in general?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the life of a samurai warrior.

1. Who are samurai warriors and how do they view life?

2. What influence have samurai warriors had on popular culture?

3. How does the author express both the negative and positive aspects of samurai life? How has samurai values shaped the lives of the main characters?

Essay Topic 3

Aside from the main characters, examine the way the author uses the other characters in the book. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

(see the answer keys)

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