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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. Which character repeats the phrase, "Everybody dies some day" over and over?

2. What does Naomi help Nomura-obasan use while she is living with the Nakane family?

3. Which generation of Japanese-Canadians are the Nisei?

4. In her final letter to her sister, what interesting question does Aunt Emily ask?

5. When Naomi was being sexually abused as a child, who does she remember telling?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Naomi's Uncle die?

2. Why does the family have to be relocated from Slocan?

3. How does the family react to the news that the war is over?

4. What are Sick Bays?

5. What types of items does Naomi find in the boxes in Obasan's attic, and what questions do these items raise in her mind?

6. What was Naomi's relationship to Old Man Gower?

7. What does Naomi know about the people that made up her community in Slocan?

8. What change is made in Naomi and Stephen's education after Uncle arrives to Slocan?

9. What are ghost towns, as they pertain to the novel?

10. What does the young mother tell Obasan about the delivery of her young baby and how they ended up on the relocation train?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kogawa chooses to write this novel in a very unconventional way. Explain the structure of the novel and discuss whether or not this use of structure was effective in telling Naomi's story. Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Silence is a revered characteristic in Japanese culture. Explain the significance of silence to the characters in the novel, and explain the effect that silence has on an individual character level within the novel, as well as a cultural level in the era that this novel is set.

Essay Topic 3

Naomi has a very strained and complicated relationship with her Aunt Emily throughout the course of the novel. Compare / contrast the story of Emily's journey as it is presented in her journals with the story of Naomi that is presented to the reader. How are their journeys the same? How are they different? Explain why Naomi is much more like her Aunt Emily than she would like to admit. How does Emily's political struggle reflect Naomi's bi-cultural struggles?

(see the answer keys)

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