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. What does Sachiko invite Yuki to do at the track meet?

2. Why does Yuki apologize to Shizuko in Chapter 4?

3. Why does Yuki feel queasy on the day of the wedding?

4. Where is the novel set in Chapter 1?

5. How has Yuki spent her summer Sundays?

Short Essay Questions

1. Are Hanae's hostile actions toward Yuki justified in Chapter 8?

2. What is the first scene at the beginning of Chapter 7?

3. Why does Yuki begin to pack away Shizuko's things without taking a single item for herself?

4. Is the race in Chapter 5 a metaphor for Yuki's life?

5. During Takeo's heart attack in Chapter 14, what seems to be his pervading attitude?

6. Why does Yuki decide against thanking her father for letting her attend Aya's wedding?

7. In what way is Yuki a unique individual? How did she become this way?

8. Why does her Aunt Aya compliment Yuki on the day of the wake?

9. Why does Yuki sometimes feel angry toward her late mother Shizuko?

10. Is Yuki pleased with the changes that Yuki's stepmother makes to the family home? Why or why not?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Yuki's initial distrust and avoidance of love as well as her progressive journey toward discovering and opening herself to another person.

• What are her preliminary beliefs about love?

• From where do these beliefs stem?

• What examples does she give as evidence to support her theory?

• At what point does Yuki begin to transcend her self-imposed walls and reach out to another person?

• How does Yuki's emotional journey regarding her mother's suicide bring about the change that Shizuko had desired for her?

Essay Topic 2

Even though the novel is set primarily in the early 1970s, is its commentary on women and society is still relevant today? Why or why not? How would the novel's themes differ if the story were set in the United States during the same time period?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the mother-daughter relationships in the novel.

Part 1) Describe Shizuko's relationship with Yuki.

Part 2) Is Shizuko a traditional Japanese mother? Why or why not? In what way is Shizuko a role model to her daughter?

Part 3) Compare and contrast Yuki's relationship with Shizuko to Yuki's relationship with her stepmother Hanae.

Part 4) Compare and contrast Yuki's relationship with Shizuko with Sachiko's relationship with her mother, Mrs. Murai.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,114 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample