View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many cigarettes does Shingo have in Section 3 of Chapter 3 before he asks Eiko to go dancing?

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

3. Who wakes Shingo early on New Year's Day?

4. How many fifteen-year-old girls had legal abortions?

5. How old is Yasuko's aunt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mrs. Ikeda think would help get Shuichi to leave his mistress?

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

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

4. With whom did Shingo go dancing one night?

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

6. How did Shingo come to hire Eiko?

7. Describe Shingo's family.

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

9. How did Mizuta die?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses descriptions of nature to illustrate or emphasize Shingo's state of mind. Discuss how descriptions of nature are used to illustrate or emphasize Shingo's state of mind.

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 526 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample