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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 does Komako tell Shimamura had worried her for a time?

2. What can the old woman that Shimamura meets in the latter half of Part One of the book tell about him from his physique?

3. What does Komako write in her diary?

4. What does Shimamura hear, which he says 'rings out clearly'?

5. What can be said of Komako's mood when she is with Shimamura in the first half of Part One of the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens with Komako on a night during Shimamura's first visit to the resort town that contradicts a decision he made earlier?

2. What hobby interest does Shimamura have?

3. Why has Komako started working as a geisha, according to the person Kamako meets on his way home from Komako's room?

4. Where does Shimamura go the day after his night with Komako, and why might he have left?

5. What kind of relationship does Shimamura apparently want with Komako?

6. Who does Shimamura meet on his way home from Komako's room, and what impressed him about this person?

7. Why does Komako bite her own arm?

8. When Shimamura arrives for his second visit to the resort town, how many days does Komako say it has it been since she and Shimamura spent their night together, and how can she be sure of this?

9. Where is Shimamura headed at the beginning of the story, and who does he plan to meet?

10. What effect does the weather have on Komako's visit Shimamura's room during his first visit to the resort town?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is "Snow Country" a romance? Why or why? Use examples from the text to illustrate your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Women in the 1930's behaved and were treated differently than today. How are women portrayed in the story? What role do women play in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the meaning of the seasons and the changing of the seasons in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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