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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. How does Christopher feel before Uncle Philip tells him what happened to his mother?

2. What does Sarah say is all part of what Shanghai's all about?

3. What do the Japanese soldiers do with Christopher?

4. How does Kung respond when Christopher identifies himself as a long time fan?

5. Where does Christopher find Inspector Kung?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Christopher do after he is certain he and Akira have not been pursued?

2. Describe Christopher's reunion with his mother.

3. What does Uncle Philip offer Christopher at the end of their meeting?

4. How does Christopher spend his afternoon before meeting up with Sarah and Sir Cecil at the Lucky Chance Club?

5. What happens when the lieutenant tells Christopher that they must wait before continuing to Yeh Chen's house?

6. How does Christopher feel about his reunion with Akira?

7. Describe Christopher's encounter with Sarah and Sir Cecil at the Lucky Chance Club.

8. What happens to Christopher as he is finishing his lunch on the day he is to leave for Macao?

9. How does the man driving Christopher to meet Sarah prove to be very useful?

10. What does Uncle Philip say happened to Christopher's parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS is written in first person. Why is this the most effective choice for Ishiguro's purposes? Discuss the impact of first person on character and story development.

Essay Topic 2

What is Sarah Hemmings' role in the novel? What does she represent for Christopher? At the end of the novel, Christopher wonders how her life has turned out. What do you think based on what we know about her?

Essay Topic 3

By the end of the novel the reader has traveled with Christopher backwards and forwards in time and from Shanghai to London and back. Starting at the earliest point in time, describe Christopher's journey? Make sure your account has a beginning, middle and end. Having put the story in chronological order, do you understand anything new about the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 941 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample