View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Goatwriter?

2. Which of the following statements does not describe the unfamiliar house in which Eiji awakens at the beginning of Chapter Five?

3. What action does Eiji take after receiving the address from Daimon?

4. Whose address does Daimon fax to Eiji after his visit with Eiji?

5. Where does Eiji find himself when he wakes up after his second dream in Chapter Eight?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the manuscript Eiji finds about Goatwriter an allegory for Eiji's own adventures?

2. Is the earthquake in Tokyo at the end of Number Nine Dream real or fantasy?

3. Who is Takara Tsukiyama, and how might he lead Eiji to Eiji's father?

4. Who is Subaru Tsukiyama and what is his relationship to Eiji?

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

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 is the significance of Eiji's final dream about Anju in which Anju tells him to go away so he will not drown, too?

8. In Chapter Seven, what plans does Eiji make with his mother?

9. Describe Eiji's new job at Nero's pizza.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Eiji's relationships with his three male friends: Suga, Daimon, and Buntaro. Also, discuss how he meets each of these friends, how they help him and whether he helps any of them, what his relationship with each of them is like, and whether any of the relationships change over the course of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Some of the scenes in Number Nine Dream are written in first person and some are written in third person. Some chapters seem disjointed with no chronological order while others are more orderly. Discuss how the structure of the narrative reflects the state of mind of the narrator, Eiji, throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Eiji's parents. Neither character appears onstage in the novel, yet both play integral roles in the story. What is the parents' relationship history? What are the parents' life situations like at present in terms of their financial situations, their levels of happiness, and their relationships with their children and with significant others? What aspect of Japanese culture is the author depicting in these two characters, and what do you think the author is saying about this aspect of Japanese culture through Eiji's parents?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,209 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample