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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 kind of drawing does Kazu specialize in?

2. Where is the woman that Gohtaro thinks is the young girl's mother taking the child?

3. Who is Yamagishi Katsura?

4. What does Kazu suggest that Kiyoshi should get for his wife's birthday?

5. After congratulating Haruka on her marriage, what does Shuichi do next?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Shuichi's and Gohtaro's lives take different paths after college?

2. Before Gohtaro goes into the past, what is his plan to deal with the revelations that will occur upon Haruka's marriage?

3. Why does the narrator use vague language to describe the tears falling during the encounter between Shuichi and Gohtaro?

4. What causes the narrator to suggest that Kyoko might be thinking, "Saved by Miki" when Kyoko suddenly bursts out laughing on page 53?

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

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

7. What happens to Gohtaro physically when Kazu pours the coffee?

8. What does Kyoko reveal about her brother's reaction to their mother's death?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the reasons the customers traveling through time seek to comfort others and do what is right by them is to reduce their own pain and discomfort. On the surface, this appears to be a selfish motive. But can an argument be made that their pain and discomfort actually arises because of a deep sense of love and obligation to others? In other words, the desire to reduce their own suffering might be self-focused, but is the suffering itself generated by something selfless? Write an essay in which you consider two of the stories in this collection and the degree to which the suffering of the time-traveling characters in these stories is created by their love for and/or sense of obligation to others. You may conclude that both characters are in similar situations or that the characters' situations are different. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout both stories, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Miki is portrayed as an eccentric child who is happiest when she is singing loudly, showing off her new backpack, pretending to be French, or mischievously criticizing her father or trying to persuade him to allow her to pour the coffee. How does this characterization relate to the "collectivistic" and "shame" aspects of Japanese culture? Would Miki's eccentricities be depicted as charming in an older character? Write an essay contextualizing the characterization of Miki within the collection's depictions of what honor, pride, and shame look like for older characters. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and be sure to cite outside sources and any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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This section contains 1,233 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample