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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. According to a survey by the Aomori Prefectural Public Health Service, how many cases of abortion were there among girls of high-school age?

2. What name is on the gate of the house where Shuichi's mistress lives?

3. What Kabuki play do Shingo, Yasuko, Shuichi, and Kikuko see in its movie version?

4. In a eulogy, how many years did a woman painter wear her hair straight back and held in place by a comb?

5. How long did Fusako and her children stay with her parents after Shuichi brought them home from the country?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Toriyama's wife torture him when she was going through the change of life?

2. What does Yasuko tell her daughter when Fusako says that Shingo is nice to Kikuko?

3. In Chapter 6, what does Shingo see at an inn after he makes arrangements for guests of his firm to visit?

4. How did Mizuta die?

5. How does Shingo attempt to make his wife stop snoring?

6. Why do the sunflowers make Shingo think of heads?

7. What wakes Shingo at the beginning of Chapter 8?

8. What does the house look like where Shuichi's mistress lives?

9. In "Chestnuts," what birds does Shingo see?

10. What does Shingo struggle to remember at the beginning of Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shingo is told the story of an old friend who pulled out his hair and who then was put into a mental hospital. Shingo believed that there was an element of parody in the story. Discuss parody and the story.

Essay Topic 2

Yasuko says "storms make trees take deeper root." Discuss what this phrase means and how it relates to problems faced by characters in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss round and flat characters in the "The Sound of the Mountain".

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 604 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample