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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. How old is Yuki in Chapter 1?

2. According to Shizuko, why didn't Hideki cry at his mother's funeral?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 7, Yuki is visiting her grandparents for the following event:

4. Why does Yuki apologize to Masa in Chapter 7?

5. Why does her Aunt Aya ask Yuki to change her clothes before the wake?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Yuki hope to never fall in love? On what does she base her mistrust in love?

2. Name some of the qualities that Yuki shares in common with her late mother Shizuko.

3. Is the race in Chapter 5 a metaphor for Yuki's life?

4. At the beginning of Chapter 7, why is Masa disappointed in Yuki?

5. What event changes Yuki's temperament and attitude toward her grandparents during her visit in March 1972?

6. Why is Yuki smiling at the end of Chapter 9?

7. What is the first scene at the beginning of Chapter 7?

8. At the end of Chapter 12, Yuki decides that she must move on and leave behind empty spaces. To what is she referring?

9. What are Yuki's feelings about her father's remarriage? How does she make these feelings known on their wedding day?

10. What happens at the end of Chapter 2 after Yuki changes her clothes for the wake?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Each character in the novel displays a different attitude toward death and the nature of loved ones passing. Compare and contrast the main characters of the novel: Yuki, Masa, Takeo, and Hideki. How do their approaches to grief vary? How have they grown and progressed by the end of the book? What understandings do they come to about death and those that have departed?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the mother-daughter relationships in the novel.

Part 1) Describe Shizuko's relationship with Yuki.

Part 2) Is Shizuko a traditional Japanese mother? Why or why not? In what way is Shizuko a role model to her daughter?

Part 3) Compare and contrast Yuki's relationship with Shizuko to Yuki's relationship with her stepmother Hanae.

Part 4) Compare and contrast Yuki's relationship with Shizuko with Sachiko's relationship with her mother, Mrs. Murai.

Essay Topic 3

Even though the novel is set primarily in the early 1970s, is its commentary on women and society is still relevant today? Why or why not? How would the novel's themes differ if the story were set in the United States during the same time period?

(see the answer keys)

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