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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 is the only thing Rodrigues can do in his new room?

2. What is Jonassen's nationality?

3. What is the role of the next samurai who visits Rodrigues?

4. What does Kichijiro bring to Rodrigues?

5. What do Inoue and Rodrigues discuss?

Short Essay Questions

1. What will happen to the villagers in Chapter 7 if Rodrigues does not apostatize?

2. What does Rodrigues think when Kichijiro brings him rice?

3. Why is Rodrigues transported in a covered caravan?

4. What does the samurai say has happened to Ferreira?

5. What do Rodrigues and Inoue discuss in Chapter 7?

6. What routine does Rodrigues settle into in Chapter 6?

7. Describe Rodrigues' new life in Japan.

8. What do Ferreria and Rodrigues talk about in Chapter 7?

9. How can Rodriguez's actions in Chapter 5 be deemed as wrong?

10. What is Yokose-no-Ura?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Endo's writing style. How would you describe Endo's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? Does he use any specific writing techniques? What meaning does Endo's style give to the story?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Endo use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Aside from the main character, Rodrigues, examine the way Endo uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

(see the answer keys)

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