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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 the sickle signify to the blacksmith?

2. What does Jo say his father once was?

3. What do Matahachi and Oko send to Otsu?

4. What does the priest think will gore out Takezo's eyes if the villagers tie him to a tree?

5. What does Musashi place before the blacksmith's sleeping form?

Short Essay Questions

1. What punishment so officials hand out to Takezo at the castle?

2. How does Jo's father react when Matahachi takes food from him?

3. What is Matahachi's life like with Oko?

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

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

6. Who is Jotaro?

7. Why do the priest say they killed the men?

8. How does Matahachi take advantage of Sasaki Kojiro's death?

9. Describe Matahachi's mother's character?

10. How do Takezo and Matahachi escape the battlefield?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the construction of Yoshikawa's argument.

1. How does he introduce his ideas?

2. How does he construct his ideas to come to logical conclusion?

3. What weaknesses and strengths can you identify in Yoshikawa's argument?

Essay Topic 3

MUSASHI is translated from Japanese into English. How much meaning can a book loses through a translation? What aspects of the book do you think would be the most difficult to express in English? How do you think a translator can overcome these difficulties?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 721 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample