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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. Where does Eiji find himself when he wakes up after his second dream in Chapter Eight?

2. As he reflects on Anju's death and what gives his life meaning, what does Eiji begin to think about his search for his father?

3. When Eiji asks Buntaro what he can do to cover his rent now that he is no longer working at Ueno Station, what does Buntaro propose?

4. What is Eiji's mother doing when he arrives at her clinic?

5. What action does Eiji take after receiving the address from Daimon?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Five, from whom does Eiji receive a postcard, and how does the card indicate a shift in the writer's attitude toward Eiji?

2. Why does Suga get drunk and how does his failure to succeed in his quest parallel Eiji's?

3. Why does the second truck driver Eiji rides with in Chapter Eight want to commit suicide and why does he change his mind?

4. 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?

5. What does Mrs. Yamaya's letter in Chapter Seven reveal about her relationship with the yakuza?

6. Why does Suga take a new job in Texas and what gift does he give Eiji upon departing for his new position?

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

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

9. How does Eiji's grandfather show that he approves of Eiji?

10. How do Mrs. Sasaki and Buntaro become a substitute family for Eiji in Chapter Five?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of the novel, Eiji is a procrastinator and daydreamer, and spends more time in fantasy and illusion than in reality. Discuss Eiji's character growth over the course of the novel, how he differs at the end of the novel from how he is at the beginning, and what helps facilitate any change in him.

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

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.

(see the answer keys)

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