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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What advice does Madame Blanche give to Joncour about the letters?
(a) To forget the mistress and be happy.
(b) To return to Japan for the mistress.
(c) To shower his wife with gifts.
(d) To take a long vacation.

2. On the way home on the third trip, how long does it take Joncour to arrive home?
(a) 3 months.
(b) 41 days.
(c) 1 year.
(d) 1 month.

3. When Baldabiou leaves, what does he give to Joncour?
(a) His silk jacket.
(b) 2 silk mills.
(c) His billiards table.
(d) His house.

4. What does Louis Pasteur decide about the silk egg production in Chapter 41?
(a) He thinks that he can cure the eggs.
(b) He tinks that 50 percent of the eggs will be bad.
(c) He thinks that it is hopeless.
(d) He thinks that 30 percent of the eggs will be healthy.

5. What activities do Helene and Joncour do while staying at the villa?
(a) They dance the nights away.
(b) They gamble.
(c) They take carriage rides and explore the town.
(d) They sit on the shore and soak up the sun.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the opening of the Suez Canal do for the trip to Japan?

2. What day does Joncour leave for his fourth trip to Japan?

3. When Joncour gets off the train and opens the eggs on his way home on the fourth trip, what does he find?

4. What does Joncour hear when the procession with the mistress goes by him?

5. Why is Joncour drawn to the light on the lake, and what does he think it is?

Short Essay Questions

1. For the fourth trip to Japan, who makes the decision to go? Why is this startling? Why does Baldabiou lie to everyone except Helene about the trip?

2. On the fourth trip to Japan, what does the young boy offer Joncour to get him to follow him? Who is this boy? Who sent him? Why is he in the village alone?

3. What does Joncour hear as Hara Kei hold the gun to his head? Describe the sounds of what is happening around him.

4. When the young boy is hanged, why does Hara Kei say the boy was the message of love? What does he mean by that? Does this have anything to do with the boy's happy disposition? What?

5. Why do you think Madame Blanche wants to forget about her native language? Why does she make Joncour promise to never return to her for a translation?

6. The envelope that Joncour receives is mailed from Ostend, which is in Belgium. Who do you think sent the letters knowing this information?

7. When Joncour's wife asks about the aviary, what does he say to her? What do you think she is thinking about her husband's actions? Do you think she is aware that something is going on?

8. The letter describes a sexual encounter but eludes to fact that it has already happened? What does this mean?

9. Helene runs after Baldabiou at the train station and they embrace and she cries. What does this tell the reader about their relationship? Do you think something happened?

10. Why does the author describe the train trip so vividly returning from Japan on the fourth trip? What is the significance of the heat that Joncour sees on the fields and with the other passengers? What is he watching happening?

(see the answer keys)

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