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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 does Ono mean when he talks of the art students "slanging" one another?

2. When does Ono feel the sense of triumph he had hoped for?

3. Why doesn't Miss Suzuki want Matsuda to feed his fish?

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

5. What does Ono say in Noriko's kitchen that upsets Noriko and Setsuko?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Matsuda believe was his and Ono's great misfortune?

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

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

5. How does Ono answer Ichiro's question about why men drink sake?

6. When does Ono achieve his greatest feeling of triumph?

7. Why does Matsuda say he never married?

8. Why does Ono admire Sugimura's work on Kawabe Park, even though Sugimura failed to accomplish his goals?

9. Years ago, Matsuda had accused Ono of having a narrow artist's perspective. What does Ono say about his perspective now that he is retired?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

We meet Taro Saito only briefly in this story, and yet Ishiguro establishes a clear personality for him through his actions and conversation. What do you know about Taro? How do you learn it? Analyze this character based on the information you have.

Essay Topic 2

Many questions in this story are left unanswered or answered only by implication. Did Ono's father burn his paintings? Did Moriyama burn his paintings? Why did the Miyakes withdraw from the marriage negotiations? Discuss such subtleties and ambiguities as a stylistic device for you as a reader. Do you find it intriguing? Frustrating? Both? Neither? For instance, how would the story have been different if the author had simply said, "The Miyakes withdrew abruptly from the marriage negotiations when they talked to Kuroda and learned that Ono had turned him in to the patriotism committee," or "My father tried to teach me that art was an unacceptable career choice by burning my paintings."

Essay Topic 3

Ishguro uses political diction when describing the art world. When a student artist went against his teacher's style, he was called a "traitor," and his work an act of "treachery." Such students were banished from the fellowship of their fellow artists. What does this type of language tell you about the social or political world in which Ono lived? Is art important for political purposes?

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