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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 is NOT one of the foods to which the narrator has access in her new job?

2. Over time, the narrator finds that to keep R at his best, "the morning agenda" needs "to be as" what "as possible" (93)?

3. Before the narrator visits the headquarters of the Memory Police in Chapter 13, she tells R, "I suppose all I can do is" (100) take what action?

4. The narrator feels especially nervous in Chapter 17 when the Memory Police search which piece of furniture?

5. What objects take up "every available space" (102) in the headquarters of the Memory Police?

Short Essay Questions

1. What rare event occurs on the island in Chapter 12 and what plotline develops from it?

2. How does the theme of courage arise within Chapter 13 of The Memory Police?

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

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

5. For what reason does the narrator get particularly nervous when the Memory Police are searching her writing desk?

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

7. 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?

8. What illogical conclusion does the narrator come to about R after their first sexual encounter, though she knows quite well how illogical it is?

9. Which character does the narrator NOT consult about her decision to investigate the old man's disappearance and why?

10. What alarming event happens to the old man in Chapter 13?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Ogawa's treatment of truth, lies, and hypocrisy within the text of The Memory Police.

Essay Topic 3

What message does Ogawa send within the pages of The Memory Police concerning the link between oppression and brutality?

(see the answer keys)

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