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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. When Eiji wakes up in a strange house after his night of terror with the yakuza, what childhood memory does it rekindle?

2. Who meets Eiji when he is expecting to meet his grandfather instead?

3. When Eiji wakes up from his initial dream in Chapter Eight, where does he find himself?

4. What was Subaru Tsukiyama's profession?

5. What happens in Tokyo at the end of the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the disagreement between Ai and Eiji at the train station in Chapter Seven.

2. How does Eiji finally get to meet his father, and how does he feel after the meeting?

3. How does Daimon help Eiji's search for his father?

4. Why is the Nero's delivery truck driver with whom Eiji rides in Chapter Eight alone in his life instead of married?

5. Describe Eiji's dream about John Lennon and Lennon's song "#9 Dream".

6. Why does Suga take a new job in Texas and what gift does he give Eiji upon departing for his new position?

7. What does Mrs. Yamaya's letter in Chapter Seven reveal about her relationship with the yakuza?

8. Why does the second truck driver Eiji rides with in Chapter Eight want to commit suicide and why does he change his mind?

9. Describe Eiji's dream about Mr. Aoyama.

10. In Chapter Five, from whom does Eiji receive a postcard, and how does the card indicate a shift in the writer's attitude toward Eiji?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Number Nine Dream contains a number of instances of foreshadowing. Cite at least three examples of foreshadowing in the novel and explain how it is used to indicate events to come.

Essay Topic 2

Meaning is one of the themes in Number Nine Dream. Discuss Eiji and any other two characters from the novel and discuss what gives their lives meaning. Does what gives their lives meaning change for any of the characters over the course of the story? What do you think the author is saying through these characters about what gives life meaning?

Essay Topic 3

Pick any three of Eiji's dreams from Number Nine Dream and analyze them. Discuss any symbolism the dreams contain, if and how the dreams help Eiji accept his twin sister's death, and any foreshadowing the dreams contain.

(see the answer keys)

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