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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Miss Sakaki send someone to collect leaves outside?

2. What are the first items from Shizuko's storage boxes that Hideki burns in Chapter 13?

3. What does Yuki do with the kimonos that Masa allows her to take?

4. How does Shizuko help the golden carp as a schoolgirl?

5. What does Yuki tell Hideki and Hanae before leaving for Nagasaki?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Yuki dresses differently than her peers, and her clothing holds a special place in her heart.

• Explain Yuki's emotional attachment to her clothes. Why are they so important to her? What role do they play in preserving her mother's memory?

• Examine the scene in which Aya asks Yuki to change her clothing for the wake.

• Why is Yuki reluctant to do so? Analyze the symbolism of Yuki hiding in her closet, among her clothes, on the day of the wake.

• What is it about Yuki's clothing that disturbs her grandmother?

• When throws away the Yuki's childhood clothing, how does this act impact Yuki?

• What is Yuki's motivation for sketching the clothes her mother had made for her?

Essay Topic 2

Explain how Yuki uses art and color as a vehicle for expressing her emotional condition throughout the novel. How are her feelings communicated indirectly through artistic language or interpretation? What are some examples of instances in the novel when Yuki is able to best describe her state of being through art-related metaphor? How does each character respond to art in a way that is relevant to the story?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, there is an uplifting sense of hope and optimism for the future. How does this contrast with the tonality at the beginning of the novel? Has the change been slow and gradual, or does the emotive quality break free of its chains within a single instance? If so, what triggers the change? Explore the tonality of the novel from beginning to end through the voice of Yuki.

(see the answer keys)

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