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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. Who is Hanji disguised as?

2. What does Jiro say to Mochida's question?

3. How does Saburo's gang rob the merchant's house?

4. Why is the merchant supposedly arrested?

5. Why is Jiro irritable as Kinshi practices?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Okada tell Tozo after Jiro leaves Okada?

2. What does the assistant magistrate first tell Yoshida and what does the assistant magistrate later say?

3. What does Yoshida ask Jiro and then tell Jiro to do?

4. What does Jiro beg Kinshi to do and what is Kinshi's reply?

5. What wakes Jiro in the night and what is the outcome?

6. How does Jiro arrange the meeting with Okada?

7. How does Jiro discover a Samurai sword?

8. How does Jiro manage to get Kinshi his role back in the play?

9. What part is Kinshi assigned in the new play and what does Jiro learn as they go to get puppets for Kinshi to practice?

10. What happens in the theater when the play is over and how does the assistant magistrate react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in The Master Puppeteer. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in The Master Puppeteer. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of class in The Master Puppeteer. Consider the following questions: How does class affect the characters in the story? How is class demonstrated? How rigid is the class system in feudal Japan? What types of struggles are evident because of class?

Essay Topic 2

Many novels, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of The Master Puppeteer and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why The Master Puppeteer is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

1. What is foreshadow? How many incidences of foreshadow are in The Master Puppeteer? How does foreshadow contribute to a book's suspense?

2. Discuss an example of foreshadow in The Master Puppeteer including why you believe it is foreshadow. Include examples from the book and your own life to illustrate your answer.

3. How do you think most people react to uncertainty in their lives? Use examples from The Master Puppeteer and your own live to support your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

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