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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. Who does Kenji want Ichiro to visit back in Seattle?

2. Who is Tommy?

3. Where does Ichiro apply for a job in Portland?

4. What new items does Kenji's father have in the house when Ichiro visits for the first time?

5. Who does Ichiro give Kenji's car to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Kenji's father's house.

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

3. Why does Ichiro go to the Christian Rehabilitation Center?

4. Why does Kenji tell Ichiro to go back to Seattle without him?

5. Why does Ichiro's mother drown herself?

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

7. What does the violent ending provide Ichiro?

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

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

10. What is Ichiro's father so impressed with at Ichiro's mother's funeral?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

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 the discrimination against blacks and Japanese-Americans throughout the book. Give examples. What were some parallels in the way the two minority groups were treated? How did they treat one another? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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