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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 was kept on for days as the father was left in the room?

2. The father admits to poisoning the water and ______________.

3. What personal element from his father did the boy save?

4. The father was first questioned in a room with no _______________.

5. The father answers accusations about ___________________.

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain the financial situation of the family when they leave the camp.

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

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

5. What does the boy learn about the details of another boy's father's arrest that is more disturbing than his own father's arrest?

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

7. For whom does the father speak during his confession?

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

9. What is the social environment like for the Japanese-Americans when they return home?

10. Who does the father identify himself as being when delivering his confession?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Otsuka uses more than one instance of irony in the story. Cite at least two other examples you can identify in the story and note why they are examples of irony. What is the major irony in the story? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

What is the greatest lesson the boy learns from his father? Is it true that important lessons are also painful ones? What will the boy always recall about his father from their experiences during World War II?

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?

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