Mr. Fornnarino's English 2, Quiz 27 for ELL Students

Be sure to choose each answer carefully. You get only one try to answer each question correctly!

This space contains reference material beginning next to Question 13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To answer Questions 13-18, please read the following passage from Chapter 12 of Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.

 

Chapter 12, pages 162-3

“Shirakawa inspects his face in the mirror. The muscles of his face remain immobile as he stares at himself long and hard with severe eyes. His hands rest on the sink. He holds his breath and never blinks, fully expecting that, if he were to stay like this long enough, some other thing might emerge. To objectify all the senses, to flatten the consciousness, to put a temporary freeze on logic, to bring the advance of time to a halt if only momentarily— this is what he is trying to do: to fuse his being with the scene behind him, to make everything look like a neutral still life. Try as he might to suppress his own presence, that other thing never emerges. His image in the mirror remains just that: an image of himself in reality. A reflection of what is there. He gives up, takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with new air, and straightens his posture. Relaxing his muscles, he rolls his head in two big circles. Then he picks up his personal articles from the sink and places them in the vinyl bag again. He balls up the towel he used to dry his body and throws it in the wastebasket. He turns the light out as he exits the lavatory. The door closes.” (Murakami, 162-3)

 

 

Note: Murakami is showing Shirakawa looking at his face in a mirror. It is ironic (the opposite of what is expected) that his face does not move, but time is moving. The muscles in his face do not move. He does not breathe. His eyes do not blink. He wants to stop time. He wants to see an unmoving picture.  He looks in the mirror wanting to see something different, but all he sees is himself. He rests, breathes, and stands tall. He moves his head in circles, picks up his things from the sink, and puts them in a bag. He puts his towel in the trash, turns out the light, and leaves the lavatory. The door closes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To answer Question 19, please read the following passage from Chapter 11 of Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best response to the prompt next to the passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.

 

Chapter 11, Pages 156

“‘Well, look. You're the kid sister, but you always had a good, clear image of what you wanted for yourself. You were able to say no when you had to, and you did things at your own pace. But Eri Asai couldn't do that. From the time she was a little girl, her job was to play her assigned role and satisfy the people around her. She worked hard to be a perfect little Snow White—if I can borrow your name for her. It's true that everybody made a big fuss over her, but I'll bet that was really tough for her sometimes. At one of the most crucial points in her life, she didn't have a chance to establish a firm self. If 'complex' is too strong a word, let's just say she probably envied you.’” (Murakami, 156)

 

Note: Snow White is the main character in an old story about a beautiful woman with white skin. Snow White's step-mother wants be the most beautiful woman, so she tries to kill Snow White. The step-mother does not understand that Snow White's beauty comes from her goodness.

 

 

To answer Questions 20-23, please read the following essay excerpt about Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the excerpt. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.

 

“Japanese literature has a unique history of being very self-reflective, perhaps because of their experiences throughout history as their culture evolved into what it is today. The contemporary works that can be seen and read today reflect that history and the kind of culture that thrives within its islands continuously. For this paper, the specific work that will be analyzed is Haruki Murakami’s After Dark and a formalist approach of analysis will be used in order to derive and understand how this work is reflective of the contemporary Japanese society and culture of the present...Set in contemporary metropolitan Tokyo, [After Dark] tells a story of things that happen in the late hours of the night where everyone is usually asleep. It seems to mainly explore the theme of isolation with each of the characters whose experiences throughout the events of the novel seem coincidentally connected to each other in some way. In a way, it can be said that this work is reflective of a contemporary Japanese society and culture wherein the people constantly try to find connections with each other but cannot because of their own personal kinds of isolation…”

Abulencia AC. 2015. Mari Asai’s Personal Isolation in Haruki Murakami’s After Dark Asian Journal of Humanity, Art and Literature, 2, 34-38.

 

 

Note: The author of this passage is saying that Japanese stories look at how Japanese people have thought about themselves because of how their culture has changed from the past to become what it is today. Today's Japanese books show the history and culture of Japan's islands. The author of the passage says that Murakami's After Dark tells a story of things that happen at night when most people are usually asleep. The story looks at the theme of isolation. Each character feels alone, but each is connected to one another. After Dark shows that people in Japan today are trying to connect with one another, but they cannot because each person feels alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.