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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 order is Kyoko waiting for at the beginning of the story?

2. Who is the woman running the café when Kiyoshi returns to the past?

3. What wish does Miki write on the tanzaku paper at the beginning of the story?

4. How does Miki address Kazu when she asks Kazu about changing her name if she gets married?

5. When "Husband and Wife" opens, about how long has it been since the events of "Best Friend" took place?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Yukio's perception of his own circumstances change over the years of his apprenticeship?

2. What is Kurata wearing in the story's opening, and why does it make him seem out of place?

3. What news about Yukio does the reader learn in "Lovers"?

4. When Kimiko enters the café, whom does Kiyoshi pretend to be, and why?

5. What does Kinuyo explain to Yukio about the silver stirrer, and what does he realize this means Kinuyo knows?

6. Why did Kiyoshi start to doubt whether he was suited to being a homicide detective?

7. What complication almost prevents Kiyoshi from traveling back in time, and how does Nagare solve the problem?

8. How did Kinuyo prove her devotion to her son over and over during his childhood?

9. A year prior to the events of "Husband and Wife," what does Kiyoshi see in the café and what does it make him realize is true?

10. What role did Kinuyo play in Kazu's recovery from her mother's death?

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

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 3

What figurative meaning is there in the text's advice to drink the coffee before it gets cold? How is this figurative meaning supported by the descriptive passages about the origins, taste, preparation, and serving of the coffee? What does it mean that the people drinking it are customers in a timeless and somewhat magical café, not just people drinking coffee that they made in their own homes? What other details and language in the text support the idea that the coffee is symbolic? Write an essay that analyzes the symbolic significance of coffee in 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.

(see the answer keys)

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