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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. How old is Yasuko?

2. What time of day does Yasuko listen to a news commentary?

3. How old was Tanizaki when the man she loved died in the war?

4. With whom did a geisha consider committing suicide?

5. When did a geisha tell Shingo that she had considered committing suicide?

Short Essay Questions

1. What music is Kikuko playing at the beginning of Chapter 3?

2. What does it mean when someone is called a "half a widow"?

3. What had the newspapers predicted about the 210th day of the year?

4. How did Shingo come to hire Eiko?

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

6. What story did a geisha tell Shingo in Chapter 1?

7. What type of a person was Toriyama?

8. Describe the photograph of Toriyama that was at his funeral.

9. Describe the circumstances of Kikuko's birth.

10. Why was Kitamoto put in a mental hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kikuko is considering giving tea lessons. Discuss tea lessons and why Kikuko considers giving tea lessons.

Essay Topic 2

Shingo's friend sells him some No masks. Discuss No masks and what they mean to Shingo, Yasuko, and Kikuko.

Essay Topic 3

Shingo appears to have changed the most in the novel. Discuss how characters did or did not change through the course of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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