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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 does Shuichi abruptly shift the conversation to Gohtaro's reasons for coming back into the past?

2. Which best describes Shuichi's reaction when he returns from the restroom and sees the much-older Gohtaro?

3. What did Kinuyo give her son when he left for Kyoto?

4. Besides the obvious age differences, what is the only thing that has changed in the café when Gohtero returns to the past?

5. On page 36, as soon as Gohtaro presses the record button, what does Shuichi say?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Kyoko end up becoming a regular at the café, and why does her son not come with her anymore?

2. Describe the atmosphere of the time-traveling café.

3. Why does Gohtaro want to travel to the past?

4. Which characteristics of Shuichi's give Gohtaro "grounds for faith" that Shuichi will quickly understand that Gohtaro has traveled back in time (31)?

5. What warning does Kazu give Gohtaro about remembering to drink his coffee?

6. What item does Kazu offer the ghost, and how do her emotions change during this encounter?

7. What are the rules of the time-traveling café?

8. What details at the beginning of the story convey to the reader that Kyoto is a regular customer at the café?

9. Why does Kazu sound stern when she tells Gohtaro, "You know that even if your return to the past, reality won't change, right?" (13)?

10. Why is Kyoko not interested in using the café's time-traveling service to go back in time to try to fix the problem with her brother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Tales from the Café convey about the fleeting nature of human life? Because life lasts a finite and unpredictable amount of time, what does this text advise people do to maximize their happiness? What are some issues from the past that might encroach on a person's present happiness? How does the text advise people to deal with these issues? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position on the theme of Tales from the Café. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Which characters in Tales from the Café profit from the moral example or advice offered by others? Are there any characters who try to follow someone else's example or advice and fail? Are there characters who simply disregard the example set or advice offered by others? When people do learn from others in this way, what are the outcomes? Write an essay in which you analyze the messages that Tales from the Café sends about learning from others. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

The café's major rules for time travel are first explained in "Best Friends." Later in Tales from the Café, though, the reader learns a few more rules--among these, that travelers are able to leave objects behind in the past. Given that this rule is not introduced until later, in "Mother and Son," do you think that it is only introduced because it is necessary to Yukio's story? What does this rule imply about the nature of time? Is this implication consistent with other ideas about time in this story? Write an essay in which you consider whether the rule about the giving and receiving of presents while time traveling is consistent with the rest of the stories in the collection or whether it is just a convenience to explain why Yukio is able to give his mother the passbook. Support your argument with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

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This section contains 1,250 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample