View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of Sugimura's plans does Ono believe is "eccentric"?
(a) A European style concert hall.
(b) A cemetery for cats and dogs.
(c) A museum of natural science.
(d) A new kabuki theater.

2. Why doesn't Ono go to Moriyama's villa?
(a) He fell asleep.
(b) The train was leaving.
(c) It seemed pointless.
(d) The villa was closed.

3. Why does Ichiro say spinach is his favorite food?
(a) Because his mother says spinach will make him strong.
(b) Because Popeye says spinach makes him strong.
(c) Because his father says spinach will make him strong.
(d) Because his aunt Noriko says spinach will make him strong.

4. How does Ono find his old friend upon his second visit?
(a) He is much stronger.
(b) He is asleep for most of the visit.
(c) He is much weaker.
(d) He is much the same.

5. How do the art students treat Sasaki when he changes his style?
(a) They burned his work in the courtyard.
(b) They criticized him in public.
(c) They gave him a goodbye party and sent him away.
(d) They hid his paintings and refused to speak to him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to Moriyama after Ono left his school?

2. What is the last year covered in this story?

3. What traits does Ono observe that Ichiro has inherited from his mother?

4. What news does Ono give Matsuda about himself?

5. What does Matsuda say about his own present-day perspective on life during his last conversation with Ono?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ono believe a teacher should regard his students diverging from his teachings?

2. Ono recalls the influence of Moriyama on his own behavior. What does he say he adopted from his teacher?

3. What happened to Moriyama's best student, Sasaki?

4. How has Ichiro changed in the year since Ono last saw him?

5. How does Ono explain Naguchi's suicide to Ichiro?

6. What stylistic devices does Moriyama copy from the classic artist, Utamaro?

7. What has changed since 1948 in regards to Ono's painting?

8. The reader learns some news about Noriko at the same time Matsuda does. What is the news?

9. Why is Ono irritated at Setsuko's insistence that Saito never heard of Ono until the miai?

10. What does Matsuda say about his own perspective now that he is old and ill?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 680 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample