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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 Ichiro tell the Japanese boy waiting on him at the cafe?

2. What happens when Tommy and Ichiro go to church together?

3. What does Ichiro learn about his mother after her death?

4. Who does Kenji blame for the problems he has had since going into the army?

5. When did everything change in his marriage, according to Ichiro's father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ichiro's mother drown herself?

2. What does the violent ending provide Ichiro?

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

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

5. What is the turning point in Ichiro's parent's marriage?

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

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

8. What does Kenji bring as a present for his father and why?

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

10. What makes Kenji's family different from Ichiro's family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Does Ichiro relate more to Americans or Japanese? Give at least three examples to explain your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Is Ichiro the protagonist or antagonist in the novel? Could he be considered a hero or a villian? Explain your answers by citing examples and reasons why he is one or the other.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast who was the bigger coward: Ichiro or Taro. Be sure to define "coward" in your essay.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 562 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample