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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 promises to pay for a hotel room for the night and then leaves Eiji with the bill?

2. To where do the contents of the file folder lead Eiji?

3. What does Eiji come to realize about the word "Father" in the strange messages he receives that Father is watching him?

4. To what does Daimon offer to treat Eiji?

5. Before leaving the video arcade in Chapter Three, with whom does Eiji get into a brief discussion?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the yakuza and how is Daimon tied to the organization?

2. Why does Eiji decapitate the statue of the thunder god in his village shrine?

3. Describe Eiji's habit of nicknaming people.

4. Why do Donkey and Dowager call the waitress with the perfect neck a "hand cream model", and what does the depiction of the girl's hands in Chapter One really indicate?

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

6. Why does the structure of Chapter One switch back and forth between fantasy and reality so often, making it difficult to tell the difference between the two?

7. 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?

8. How does Eiji escape death at the end of Chapter Four?

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

10. What does Eiji's fantasy about masquerading as an aquarium cleaner to meet Akako Kato reveal about his character?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the following father and son relationships: Eiji and his father, Eiji's father and grandfather, and Daimon and his father. Do any of these relationships seem happy? What cultural events or conflicts might some of these relationships reflect? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Eiji's parents. Neither character appears onstage in the novel, yet both play integral roles in the story. What is the parents' relationship history? What are the parents' life situations like at present in terms of their financial situations, their levels of happiness, and their relationships with their children and with significant others? What aspect of Japanese culture is the author depicting in these two characters, and what do you think the author is saying about this aspect of Japanese culture through Eiji's parents?

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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