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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. The narrator’s mother suggests that the narrator take Sensei what when he returns to Tokyo in Part I: Sensei and I?

2. When the narrator first sees Sensei at a teahouse by the beach, he says that two days previously he had gone where?

3. Sensei’s wife tells the narrator that Sensei is at a cemetery where in Part I: Sensei and I?

4. How many siblings does the narrator tell Sensei he has in Part I: Sensei and I?

5. Sensei tells the narrator in Part I: Sensei and I, “[I]f you ever allow yourself to feel betrayed, you will then find yourself being” what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where is Sensei when the narrator first goes to his home in Tokyo? Where does the narrator eventually find Sensei?

2. What does the narrator tell Sensei of his father’s health when he returns to Tokyo in Part I, Sensei and I? How does Sensei respond?

3. What does Sensei’s wife reveal about her feelings for her husband while she and Soseki are in the house watching for burglars in Part I, Sensei and I?

4. How does Soseki respond to Sensei’s remark about Soseki seeking love in Part I, Sensei and I?

5. What financial advice does Sensei give Soseki in the tree nursery in Part I, Sensei and I?

6. What is foreshadowed through Soseki and Sensei’s discussion of trust in the first section of Part I, Sensei and I?

7. How does the narrator perceive Sensei’s relationship with his wife in Part I, Sensei and I?

8. What does the author of the Forward say of Soseki Natsume’s education and works?

9. Why does the narrator return home in Part I, Sensei and I? How does he depict his first days there?

10. What event does Sensei’s wife describe that hints at the reason Sensei changed and became removed from the world in Part I, Sensei and I?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss women’s roles in Japan in 1912. How are the women in the novel depicted in regard to gender roles and subservience to men? How indicative is this illustration to the time period and Japanese culture? What changes were taking place in this regard during the Meiji era?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss symbolic role that Emperor Meiji plays in Kokoro. What does Meiji represent metaphorically to the characters in the story? How does Meiji’s passing affect Soseki and his family? How does it affect Sensei?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the style and language of the novel. How does the language of Kokoro contribute to the tone of the narrative? What differences can be seen in the ways that Soseki and Sensei communicate verbally?

(see the answer keys)

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