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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 happens when Eiji asks for the file folder about his father?

2. What game do Daimon and Eiji play together?

3. What magazine does Suga read in Chapter Two?

4. Why can't Eiji sleep at night in Chapter Two?

5. What is Anju's relationship to Eiji?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the strange messages Eiji receives while using the ATM.

2. How successful are Eiji's initial attempts to contact Akiko Kato?

3. How does the video game Virtua Sapiens relate to Eiji's quest for his father?

4. What is the significance of the third person viewpoint in the scenes describing Eiji's first drug experience and his experience with Velvet?

5. Who is Cat and what does Eiji's relationship with her indicate?

6. Describe what happens to Eiji's twin sister, Anju, shortly after the twins turn eleven and how Eiji is affected by the incident.

7. What does Eiji's helping Daimon after the yakuza injure Daimon indicate about Eiji's character?

8. Who does Eiji initially think "father" is in Chapter Four, and who does "father" eventually turn out to be?

9. What does the letter Eiji receives from his mother in Chapter Two reveal, and how does it make him feel about contacting his mother again?

10. Who is Buntaro and what is Eiji's relationship with him like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Number Nine Dream contains a number of instances of foreshadowing. Cite at least three examples of foreshadowing in the novel and explain how it is used to indicate events to come.

Essay Topic 2

Two suicides and one contemplated suicide occur in Number Nine Dream. Discuss Mr. Aoyama's suicide, Subaru Tsukiyama's suicide, and Monkfish's contemplation of suicide. What motivates each of them and what theme(s) or lesson(s) do you think the author is trying to convey through these incidents? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Eiji's relationships with his three male friends: Suga, Daimon, and Buntaro. Also, discuss how he meets each of these friends, how they help him and whether he helps any of them, what his relationship with each of them is like, and whether any of the relationships change over the course of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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