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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 did Yasuko begin to look younger than Shingo?

2. During what season did Fusako leave her husband?

3. What color raincoat does Eiko wear in "A Blaze of Clouds"?

4. What language does Shuichi know that Kikuko does not?

5. How old is Yasuko?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kikuko have a scar on her forehead?

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

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

4. Why was Kitamoto put in a mental hospital?

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

6. Describe Shingo's family.

7. How did Shingo come to hire Eiko?

8. What is noticed about the trees in the garden after the typhoon?

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

10. Why does Kikuko go to the University Hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shingo calls himself a murderer by remote control. Discuss why Shingo feels that he is a murderer.

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, occasionally the back-story behind events that are occurring in the story are revealed. Discuss the back-story and how the author accomplishes revealing the back-story.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 498 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample