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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. What beverage does the woman drink before hiding the bottle in the basement?

2. What month is it as the girl, her brother and mother are on a train?

3. Who is the Japanese Emperor?

4. The girl and boy work together on a drawing of __________________.

5. Which religion can the detainees not practice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the boy recall about his father being taken away and what his mother did after that night to try to keep the family safe?

2. How do the girl's recollection of the family trip to Yosemite and her father's travels provide some insight into the father's arrest?

3. How are Japanese-Americans notified that they are to be relocated and what indicates that people are preparing?

4. Describe the living conditions of the mother, the boy and the girl in Utah.

5. Where is the family headed in September 1942 and where had they been living since the spring of the year?

6. What is the premise of WHEN THE EMPEROR WAS DIVINE?

7. What is the girl prompted to remember when viewing the image on a playing card?

8. How is the girl's naivete exhibited when she waves to people from the train?

9. Who is Mrs. Ueno and how does she act with the boy's mother in the camp?

10. How does the author show that the family is all-American and hardly a threat to U.S. security?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses more than one theme in the novel. Identify at least two themes in the story and then cite an example to support each theme.

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of the boy. What does he look like? What are his positive personality traits? What are some of his negative characteristics? What are his hopes and fears? What motivates him--if anything--at this point?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the main settings for the novel. Why does Otsuka use the settings she does? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the characters?

(see the answer keys)

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