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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 initially doctor say is wrong with the narrator's baby?

2. What does Hatsuku mean?

3. What does the author use to help him sleep?

4. How did Akutagawa's brother-in-law kill himself?

5. What was the name of the founder of Rome?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Shinsuke deal with what he calls his fake parents?

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

4. What does Akutagawa hear on the phone?

5. Why does Oshino need new legs?

6. Why does Akutagawa become so upset about the raincoat?

7. Why does Shinsuke struggle to make friends?

8. What does the doctor say is wrong with the baby?

9. What does the narrator say he remembers about his mother?

10. What does the Life of the Stupid Man say about Akutagawa's state of mind?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the history of Christianity in Japan? Why did the Japanese find it so difficult to except the Christian faith? What do the stories express about how Japanese society viewed Christianity?

Essay Topic 2

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

1. Language.

2. Character.

3. Structure.

Essay Topic 3

What is the moral of the Spider Thread story? What does this moral of the story say about the Buddhist religion.?

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