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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. Which character claims that an experience with a music box alerted them to their disappearance immunity?

2. The sight of what objects convinces the narrator in Chapter 22 that the Inui family has been captured by the Memory Police?

3. What action do R, the narrator, and the old man take "for a long time" (204) once they are reunited in R's hidden room at the end of Chapter 21?

4. The old man reports to the narrator in Chapter 14 that the Memory Police had interrogated him about what subject?

5. When the narrator is no longer able to write novels, what does she type out over and over again?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator acquire the dog named Don in Chapter 19 and what is the significance of her acquisition?

2. In Chapter 14, the old man reports to the narrator that the Memory Police had been interested in what subject?

3. To what object is the narrator referring when she states in Chapter 19, "Never had I seen anything burn as brightly" (183)?

4. What sorts of jobs does R begin to complete on the narrator's behalf in Chapter 12 and why?

5. Which objects are disappeared in Chapter 19 and in what way does the disappearance personally affect the narrator?

6. In what way does the theme of surveillance appear within Chapter 18, in relation to the bond between R and the narrator?

7. What object does R beg the narrator not to burn in Chapter 12 and what is her reaction?

8. In what way is the motif of sound used to inspire feelings of horror and suspense in the reader at the end of Chapter 16?

9. Who comes to stay with the narrator in Chapter 19 and why?

10. Which of the novel's symbols is revisited again within Chapter 22, echoing its earlier appearance in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Perform a biographical criticism of The Memory Police by researching Ogawa's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular book and then support that claim with quotes from the book and from your research of Ogawa.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Ogawa's novel from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Ogawa’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of The Memory Police.

(see the answer keys)

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