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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 NOT happen to the people at Asano Park?

2. At what time does the atomic bomb flash above Hiroshima?

3. What did Mrs. Nakamura's deceased husband do for a living?

4. What does the man who tries to rescue Miss Sasaki tell her?

5. At Asano Park, how do the wounded die?

Short Essay Questions

1. What explains why so many citizens who are hurt go unattended and why so many citizens who might have lived die?

2. What is Mrs. Nakamura doing the morning of the bombing?

3. Describe Dr. Terufumi Sasaki.

4. Prior to the bombing, why do the police question Mr. Tanimoto several times?

5. Describe Dr. Masakazu Fujii and his lifestyle prior to the bombing.

6. After the bomb hits, what does Mr. Tanimoto see from the mound in the garden?

7. What may have saved Dr. Sasaki's life the morning of the bomb?

8. Describe Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge.

9. What does Mr. Tanimoto encounter on his way to and from finding his wife and baby?

10. What are the weather and conditions like as Dr. Fujii walks over the bridge after the bombing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Japanese government's response to the bombing.

1) Why is the government slow to respond to the victims of the bombing? Cite three examples from the book.

2) When and why does the government begin to respond to the citizens of Hiroshima who were affected by the bomb?

3) How do the characters in the book view their government's response to the bomb? Do they blame their government for the Hiroshima bombing? What about the bombing of Nagasaki? Cite three examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Trying to make a "home" in a foreign land.

1. Discuss how Father Kleinsorge attempts to make a home in a foreign land. Cite three examples that prove your theory.

2. Does Father Kleinsorge reach out to people or attempt to create a community in Japan out of need, service, or generosity?

Essay Topic 3

John Hersey describes the characters as having "good" or "bad" luck.

1. Does this attitude of having "good" or "bad" luck belong to the particular characters' views or is it the author's description? Cite three examples that support your theory.

2. Which characters in the book may, or are likely to, accept the concept of you make your own luck, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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