View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 10, what does Shizuko tell ten-year-old Yuki about divorced families?

2. What emotion does Masa always recognize in Yuki's face in Chapter 14?

3. In fourth grade, what does Shizuko say about the picture of the emperor?

4. Where does Yuki meet Isamu?

5. What lesson does Yuki fail to learn from her grandfather?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how the book benefits from the author's choice to include flashbacks within many of the chapters.

Part 1) Why are the flashbacks important in defining characters? What are some examples when a flashback has brought new and interesting facts about a character to light?

Part 2) When considering the novel's overall theme of remembrance, why are flashbacks an appropriate vehicle for the story?

Part 3) What are the disadvantages to including flashbacks? What are the merits?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Explore Yuki's initial distrust and avoidance of love as well as her progressive journey toward discovering and opening herself to another person.

• What are her preliminary beliefs about love?

• From where do these beliefs stem?

• What examples does she give as evidence to support her theory?

• At what point does Yuki begin to transcend her self-imposed walls and reach out to another person?

• How does Yuki's emotional journey regarding her mother's suicide bring about the change that Shizuko had desired for her?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 377 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample