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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. Why does Kenji tell Ichiro to take the car back to Seattle by himself?

2. What presents does Kenji give to his father?

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

4. Why does Ichiro's father take the death of his wife so calmly?

5. What do we learn about Ichiro's mother before Ichiro leaves for Portland?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Ichiro's mother drown herself?

3. How does Freddie die?

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

5. What news does Emi share with Ichiro after his mother's funeral?

6. Describe Kenji's father's house.

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Kenji and Ichiro answering ALL THREE of these questions:

1) What makes Kenji and Ichiro similar?

2) What makes Kenji and Ichiro different?

3) Who is in more pain and why?

Essay Topic 3

What is a "no-no" boy and explain why you think the term was needed to be coined in the first place? Which characters in the novel could be described as no-no boys? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 569 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample