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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 happens to the family in Chapter 4?

2. Why is one of the camp residents beaten one night?

3. The father speaks for ______________________.

4. The father sarcastically says that he signaled to Japanese aviators with ____________________.

5. Who had convinced the mother to rent the house to tenants while they were gone?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the father say is what he most wanted to say to everyone during his confession?

2. What agreement did the mother have with a lawyer and how did he abuse that agreement?

3. What are the physical and psychological states of the camp in the autumn of 1942?

4. What valuable advice does the boy receive from his father in a letter?

5. Why is the girl digging in the ground with a spoon in the middle of the night?

6. What is the father's tone during his confession in this chapter?

7. Describe how the winter takes its toll on the people in the camps.

8. Describe what the family did after the father's arrest when they did not know what had happened to him.

9. What does the father want to imply to whoever is hearing his confession?

10. How does the author show that the characters are not considered to be real people, but rather just nameless prisoners?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the hardware store owner. What is his role in the story? What was the author trying to accomplish by creating the dialogue between the hardware store owner and the mother?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 906 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample