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Obasan

Quiz

Context

Plot Overview

Character List

Analysis of Major Characters

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

Important Quotations Explained

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Obasan

Joy Kogawa

Quiz

1. Where does Naomi's mother travel to and never return from?

(A) The United States

(B) Vietnam

(D) China

2. What is the name of the family who owns the beet farm?

(A) Parker

(B) Smith

(D) Barker

3. What is the name of the elderly woman who stays with the family in Slocan?

(A) Nakayama-sensei

(B) Aunt Emily

(D) Nomura-obasan

4. What treasured creation of Uncle's does the family have to give up to the government?

(A) A bicycle

(B) A boat

(D) A dresser

5. What is Naomi's profession?

(A) Teacher

(B) Librarian

(D) Newspaper writer

6. What happened to Naomi's mother?

(A) She remarried and had more children.

(B) She died en route to Canada.

(D) She is alive and living in Tokyo.

7. What does Stephen love to do?

(A) Ski

(B) Run

(D) Write

8. Who rescued Naomi when she was drowning?

(A) Stephen

(B) Rough Lock Bill

(D) Obasan

9. To whom does Aunt Emily write the letters?

(A) Naomi's mother

(B) Uncle

(D) A newspaper

10. The novel's first scene is set where?

(A) Hiroshima

(B) The ocean

(D) Wal-Mart

11. What phrase does Obasan repeat like a mantra?

(A) “Everyone someday dies.”

(B) “Everyone someday grows old.”

(D) “All things must pass.”

12. What is in the package Aunt Emily sends Naomi?

(A) Written materials

(B) Candy

(D) Gift cards

13. Who is Old Man Gower?

(A) The man who teaches Naomi to read

(B) The man who molests her

(D) The man who visits her and Obasan

14. Where did Momotaro emerge from?

(A) A woman

(B) The sea

(D) A bowl of rice

15. Why did Naomi's mother go to Japan?

(A) To escape persecution

(B) To take care of her mother

(D) To get away from her family

16. What is the Sick Bay?

(A) A theme park

(B) A beach

(D) An interment camp

17. Stephen breaks what in 1942?

(A) His arm

(B) His leg

(D) His collarbone

18. When father returns, what do he and Stephen do together?

(A) Play their flutes

(B) Reread old letters

(D) Go to the hospital

19. The white girl accuses Naomi of what misdeed?

(A) Slitting a chicken's throat

(B) Throwing a kitten down an outhouse hole

(D) Shooting down a fox in the forest

20. When Father comes home, Naomi dreams about a being that resembles what?

(A) A ship

(B) A kingbird

(D) Her father

21. How does Naomi discover the truth about her mother's fate?

(A) She finds it in a book.

(B) Aunt Emily tells her.

(D) Obasan mentions it by accident.

22. Where does Naomi go at the end of the novel?

(A) Tokyo

(B) The coulee

(D) The Barkers' farm

23. What item of Uncle's does Obasan find in the attic?

(A) An ID card

(B) A photograph

(D) A good-luck charm

24. Where does Naomi meet Rough Lock Bill?

(A) Slocan

(B) Newport

(D) Granton

25. Where is the Barker farm located?

(A) Slocan

(B) Newport

(D) Granton

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