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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. When Nagare pops his head out of the kitchen at the beginning of the story, what does he offer Kurata?

2. When he is in the past, what sound startles Yukio just as he is beginning to relax and feel sleepy?

3. How does Nagare explain what happened to Kaname?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened when Kimiko tried to intervene in the mugging incident?

2. What comparison does Yukio make between his own situation and that of a character in Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird?

3. How do Yukio's actions and emotions during the scene where he first sits down in the time-travel chair foreshadow his plan to not return to the present?

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

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

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

7. When Miki writes her wish that Nagare would become happy, how does Nagare react?

8. What lies does Yukio tell his mother about taking care of himself, and why does he tell these lies?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

How does the text's advice about dealing with regret differ from its advice about dealing with grief? What similarities are there between these two emotions, and what is the key difference between them that leads to the text advocating different ways of dealing with them? Write an essay in which you explore the text's position on the sources and impact of these two emotions as well as its differing advice for dealing with them. Use the examples of the time-travelers in the collection to support your assertions. Be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

The relationship between Yukio and his mother is one of mutual obligation to each other's happiness. This relationship gives their lives meaning, and their obligations to one another do not end with either's death. How does the relationship between Kazu and Kaname echo this relationship? What other kinds of relationships does the text present similarly, as a two-way system of obligation that transcends death? Write an essay in which you consider the text's messages about mutual obligation in intimate human relationships. 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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