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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. Just before he lifts his coffee to drink it and return to his own time, what does Kurata hand to Miki?

2. What causes Kimiko to tell Kiyoshi that he sounds like a detective?

3. What physical details are frequently used to identify Nagare to the reader?

4. What question does Kazu ask Yukio that he refuses to answer?

5. When Miki and Nagare come back to the closed café later that night, what is Kazu doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the conditions that Kurata gives Fumiko for either bringing or not bringing Asami to the café?

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

3. What is similar about Asami's decision to meet Kurata and the advice Kurata gave her after her miscarriage?

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

5. What similarity does Kiyoshi see between his and Kazu's situations?

6. What kind gesture does Nagare make when he gives Kyoko her order, and how does Kyoko react?

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

8. What larger point about life is the narrator of "Husband and Wife" making in the story's introductory comments about winter and spring?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In a text that focuses on the hopes and desires of different characters who come and go over the course of several separate stories, what is important about having Kazu's situation also reflect key thematic motifs? Which of the thematic motifs in Tales from the Café does Kazu's life story amplify? How does Kawaguchi encourage the reader to care about Kazu and whether she finds happiness? Write an essay that discusses the importance of Kazu as a consistent central figure in Tales from the Café and analyzes the techniques that Kawaguchi uses to make Kazu's happiness significant to the reader. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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 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.

(see the answer keys)

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