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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 have the pregnant woman in Chapter Six and her husband decided to name their coming baby?

2. Whose address does Daimon fax to Eiji after his visit with Eiji?

3. Who responds to Eiji's personal ad in the newspaper?

4. Who offers Eiji a job at Nero's pizza?

5. What did the yakuza do to Mrs. Yamaya's son?

Short Essay Questions

1. What secrets does Ai Imajo reveal about herself in Chapter Six, and what do her revelations indicate about her changing relationship with Eiji?

2. Is the earthquake in Tokyo at the end of Number Nine Dream real or fantasy?

3. Who is Takara Tsukiyama, and how might he lead Eiji to Eiji's father?

4. Describe Eiji's dream about Mr. Aoyama.

5. Explain how Eiji gets a new job in Chapter Six.

6. Describe the disagreement between Ai and Eiji at the train station in Chapter Seven.

7. Who meets Eiji at the Amadeus Tea Room instead of his grandfather on the day of his second meeting with the older man, and why does his grandfather not meet him then as planned?

8. As he learns about Subaru Tsukiyama's life, what insights does Eiji begin to get about his own life?

9. After escaping the exploding cars and the yakuza, where does Eiji wake up at the beginning of Chapter Five, and what childhood memories does the place in which he awakens rekindle?

10. Who is Subaru Tsukiyama and what is his relationship to Eiji?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Family is an important concept in Number Nine Dream. Compare and contrast Eiji's relationships with his real family members with his relationships with his Tokyo friends who become a substitute family to him. What do you think the author is saying through Eiji's relationships about family?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the treatment of women in Number Nine dream.

Part I: Which women are treated well by men and which women are treated poorly by men in the novel? How do you explain any differences in the way women are treated?

Part II: Does the treatment of women in the novel reflect the role of women in Japanese society? In what ways?

Part III: What might Ai's defiance of her father to attend school in Paris symbolize about the changing role of women in Japanese society?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss symbolism and metaphor in Number Nine Dream. Give three examples of symbolism in the novel and discuss what the symbols are used to convey.

(see the answer keys)

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