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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 does the narrator witness when he is 28?

2. What is Shinsuke very poor at when he is young?

3. Why does the author say he has to stop the story?

4. What does the narrator say his mother was?

5. What kind style story is Spinning Gears?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator remember about his eldest sister?

2. How does Tsuneko react to seeing her husband's horse legs?

3. Why does the storyteller think Oshino is so ordinary?

4. How do the Honda's relative's react to the eulogy?

5. What are the author's feeling about religion during this time?

6. What does the author's sister tell him about the death of her husband?

7. What does the narrator remember about his father?

8. How does Akutagawa's wife increase his panic?

9. Why does Shinsuke struggle to make friends?

10. How does Oshino try to control his kicking legs?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the differences between a novel and a short story in terms of the following?

1. Language.

2. Character.

3. Structure.

Essay Topic 2

Compare American and Japanese culture.

1. What are the differences between the two cultures?

2. In what way have the two cultures influenced each other?

Essay Topic 3

In what way is death a constant theme throughout the book? In what way do the Japanese view death differently to other western cultures? Does the author share this view?

(see the answer keys)

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