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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who left a message for Kazu to tell him his son died while he was working in Hokkaido?
(a) His wife.
(b) The police.
(c) His daughter.
(d) His neighbor.

2. What is familiar about the jean jacket Kazu sees an old homeless man wearing while talking to a homeless woman about the lack of work?
(a) It belonged to Kazu's son.
(b) He had seen it in a magazine.
(c) It looks like Shige's.
(d) It used to be Kazu's.

3. What are some of the ways Kazu recalls getting food when he was homeless?
(a) His family would bring him care packages every month.
(b) Kazu and others would steal from markets.
(c) Restaurants would leave food out and missionaries would serve them a few days a week.
(d) Kazu would raid trash cans outside of restaurants for food.

4. How old was Kazu when he went to Tokyo to find work?
(a) 43.
(b) 21.
(c) 30.
(d) 12.

5. What did Setsuko wonder about regarding her son's death?
(a) What he did just before he died.
(b) If he called out for her.
(c) Who saw him last.
(d) If someone killed him.

Short Answer Questions

1. After working in Onamaha for two years, What did Kazu do with his father on Kitamigita Beach?

2. What year was Kazu born?

3. What unusual fact do readers learn about the narrator at the start of the story?

4. How much education did Kazu complete before going to work to help support his family?

5. Who lent Kazu his mourning clothes, which Setsuko gave him on the day of Koichi's funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Kazu's first job in Tokyo?

2. What is the history of the Statue of Times Forgotten, which Shige told Kazu about?

3. When did Kazu move to Tokyo? Why? How often did he see his family?

4. Describe the conversation between the homeless man and woman after the woman repeats her disbelief that Shige is dead.

5. What did Kazu and his father, mother, and wife each do to support and feed the family around the time his first son was born?

6. How would Kazu get food when he was homeless in Ueno Park?

7. What was Kazu's relationship with his children like while he was working in Tokyo?

8. What does Kazu's father say to the tax officials who came into their home and marked property to be repossessed?

9. Why does Kazu ultimately decide to move to Tokyo to work when his children are young?

10. What does Setsuko wonder about her son's death and how does the priest respond?

(see the answer keys)

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