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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. Why is Joncour drawn to the light on the lake, and what does he think it is?
2. What does Madame Blanche say about Japan?
3. Where is the envelope from?
4. What is the date that Joncour gets off the train to open the eggs on his fourth trip?
5. What does Louis Pasteur decide about the silk egg production in Chapter 41?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. On the fourth trip to Japan, describe the young boy that Joncour follows? What is he playing? Why would he play music as they wander through the villages?
3. How did the changes in the world described in Chapter 54 change Joncour's world? How did these changes affect the silk trade? Explain.
4. On his final trip to Madame Blanche's, what does she tell Joncour about his wife that he did not know?
5. Why does Helene pretend not to notice the letters when they are clearly in plain sight?
6. Why does Joncour take Baldabiou to the house of Jean Berbeck that he buys? What is he looking for? Why does he think that Baldabiou will understand?
7. 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?
8. 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?
9. What happens the morning after Hara Kei's party? Why do you think Hara Kei left? How does Joncour find the aviary? What is this saying to Joncour?
10. When Joncour finally tells Baldabiou about the girl in Japan he says, "To die of nostalgia for something you will never live," what does he mean?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Joncour, at the end of his life, is left with symbols of the past. What are the symbols in the novel, and how many does Joncour hold on to as he grows old? Was Joncour ever able to identify the symbols when he needed to? Is he later able to look back and see his errors in translating the symbols?
Essay Topic 2
Why do you think Helene runs after Baldabiou at the train station? What do you think their relationship was? Why do you think that? What else happens that indicates that they have a close relationship? Do you think Helene experienced the same thing as her husband in the months he was away from her? Why do you think that?
Essay Topic 3
Japan is described twice in the novel as "the end of the world." Who describes it that way, and when? Are the two incidents connected in any way?
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This section contains 1,466 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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