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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. Where does Kenji go before picking up Ichiro at the grocery store?
(a) The park.
(b) Emi's house.
(c) The train station.
(d) Club Oriental.

2. When did everything change in his marriage, according to Ichiro's father?
(a) When they had children.
(b) When they made the trip from Japan to America.
(c) When they opened the grocery store.
(d) When she tried to stack the cans.

3. Why does Kenji tell Ichiro to take the car back to Seattle by himself?
(a) Because Kenji doesn't want to drive it anymore.
(b) Because Kenji wants his father to come pick him up.
(c) Because Kenji knows he is dying.
(d) Because Kenji wants Ichiro to find a job in Seattle.

4. What do we learn from Kenji about Emi and her feelings about Ralph?
(a) She wants to stay married to Ralph.
(b) She wants to meet Taro.
(c) She is in love with Kenji.
(d) She is less devoted to Ralph than initially thought.

5. What does Ichiro tell the Japanese boy waiting on him at the cafe?
(a) That he is homeless.
(b) That he is unemployed.
(c) That he is Chinese.
(d) That he is American.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Freddie kick during the fight in the alley before running to his car?

2. What happens to Freddie as he and Ichiro enter Club Oriental together near the end of the book?

3. Why does Ichiro jump out of the limousine while he and his father are waiting?

4. What man is balding with unsympathetic, dark eyes?

5. Why is Ichiro upset with the people who show up at his mother's funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ichiro finally start to understand about his past after taking the job at the Christian Rehabilitation Center?

2. What makes the priest at the funeral stand out?

3. Why is the violent ending to the book so significant?

4. What does Kenji's family do together that night?

5. What does Ichiro's behavior to the Japanese waiter at the Burnside Cafe symbolize?

6. Why does Tommy's memory stand out in Ichiro's mind?

7. Why does Kenji want to write a letter to Emi's husband?

8. Why does Ichiro's father feel a sense of relief following Ichiro's mother's death?

9. Describe Kenji's father's house.

10. What does Ichiro understand about his mother after her death?

(see the answer keys)

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