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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 does Joncour give to Helene when he returns from Japan on his first trip?

2. How much money does Joncour have for his trip to Japan?

3. Who do the silk manufacturers of Lavilledieu hire to examine the silkworm disease?

4. Where does the mistress hide the note when Joncour gives it back to her?

5. What novel is Flaubert writing at the time in the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Madame Blanche tell Joncour that the girl will not die without him? Is she trying to help him? What does she know that he does not?

2. What happened when Jean Berbeck decided not to speak anymore? Why is this significant information in getting to know the character of Joncour?

3. For the third trip to Japan, who decides that Joncour should go? How much say does he have in this decision?

4. What happens every time Hara Kei appears? Who leaves? Is this by design? Why do you think that?

5. Why are the silkworms of Japan not affected by disease? What is their history of trade?

6. Describe how silk eggs hatch and what happens to them.

7. What is the symbolism of the exotic birds kept caged at the house of Hara Kei? What does this tell Joncour? What else does Joncour see at Hara Kei's house?

8. What is Madame Blanche's calling card? What does she give the men she sleeps with?

9. Why does the mistress bring an Asian girl for Joncour? What is this a symbol of for both of them?

10. Why does Joncour arrive in Hara Kei's village on foot? What message is he sending to the mistress?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does the author use the historical character of Louis Pasteur? What does this add to the novel? What about other historical notations? Does this help or hurt the novel in your opinion?

Essay Topic 2

What do the two English characters, the one in France at the party, and the one in the Japanese village, have in common? How are they different? Why do you think the author introduced these two characters, one in each country, to play off the main characters? What do they bring to the story? How would the story have been different without them?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Joncour build a park? What is the significance of a windy day and the lake? Why is Joncour drawn to his lake on windy days? What is he thinking about when he sits by the lake after he first finishes the park and then later in the novel? Does the meaning, for him, change? How?

(see the answer keys)

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