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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. Who meets Rodrigues at the meeting point?

2. Why is it difficult to find a Japanese person in Macao?

3. What do the officials do with priests that don't apostatize?

4. What does Kichijiro do when the Chinese are not watching?

5. What does a sailor notice floating in the water?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the priests' journey to India.

2. What problems did the three priests have to overcome to get to India?

3. What do the two priests decide when asked to go to another village?

4. What does Rodrigues do during his stay in Odomari?

5. How does the village cope with the raid in Chapter 4?

6. In what way is Rodrigues' faith wavering in Chapter 3?

7. What information does Valignano have about Ferreira?

8. Why do Mokichi, Ichizo and Kichijiro have to leave the village?

9. In what way do Garrpe and Rodrigues' opinions differ when the two men ask them to come to their village?

10. How do the villagers secretly continue with their Christian faith?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is set mostly in Japan.

1) What meaning does Japan bring to the novel? What would you automatically presume about a novel that was set in Japan?

2) How different do you think today's Japan is to the Japan in the novel? How do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's Japan?

3) How do you think the Japanese settings contribute to the novel's spiritual meaning?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the Japanese samurai.

1) What are their main ideas and beliefs? What influence have these ideas had on Japanese culture as a whole?

2) What power did the samurai hold in 17th century Japan?

3) Which position do the samurai hold in today's Japan?

Essay Topic 3

Silence is described as historical fiction and therefore the reader would expect aspects of the novel to be historically accurate. What parts of the novel do you think have to be accurate? In what parts does Endo need to exaggerate the truth and why? Can such a book ever be regarded as an accurate historical account?

(see the answer keys)

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