BAEN BOOKS

READING GUIDES 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Baen Books

A Baen Book Original

Baen Publishing Enterprises

P.O. Box 1403

Riverdale, NY 10471

www.baen.com

eISBN: 978-1-62579-096-5

Introduction

Many students love science fiction stories. Even students who don’t ordinarily like to read find themselves drawn to speculative fiction. We at Baen Books believe that science fiction, fantasy, and other works of speculative fiction have many advantages for inclusion in the middle and high-school curriculum. This type of fiction can foster a love of reading among students, provide the basis for writing assignments that will motivate and intrigue them, spark lively discussions, and lead students to productive explorations of questions in history, science, sociology, religion and ethics. Baen Teachers’ Guides are designed to provide instructors with resources for using Baen books as foundations for this sort of exploration.

We hope these guides will make it productive and interesting for you to include Baen titles in your curriculum. We welcome your comments on this guide and your suggestions for future guides. Let us know how we can improve the guides for classroom use as well as any other ideas you have for using Baen books in your classroom.

Copyright 2010 by Baen Books.

Teacher’s Guide to Rising Sun

Contents:

- recommended reading level

- plot summary

- character sketches

- guides to each chapter, including:

- prepare to read…

- vocabulary

- focus questions and initiating activities

- suggested “supportive media” for adding insight into events, objects, or persons referenced in each chapter

- such media may be made available for viewing on a class website, or for viewing during class discussion of the novel

- quiz/reading comprehension questions—multiple choice/short answer questions

- critical thinking/short essay questions—higher order open-ended questions which might be utilized for quizzes/tests, class discussion, or essay prompts

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration—suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: Rising Sun is appropriate for a young adult and adult audience. Classroom use of the book is most suitable for upper high school students due to some graphic violence, language, and sexuality.

Biographical information on Robert Conroy:

A semi-retired business and economics teacher, Robert Conroy is the author of several alternative history novels ranging in focus from the Civil War to World War II.

Plot Summary: 1942: the incredible victory in the Battle of Midway has become a horrendous disaster. America's handful of carriers in the Pacific have blundered into a Japanese submarine picket line and most have been sunk. The United States has only one carrier remaining, while the ragtag remnants of U.S. battleships—an armada still reeling from the defeat at Pearl Harbor—are in even worse shape.

The Pacific belongs to the Japanese. Yet despite disaster, the U.S. is determined to fight back. And now a grand plan is put forth to lure the Japanese into an ambush that could restore the balance in the Pacific and give the forces of freedom a fighting chance once more.

--from Baen.com

Major Characters:

TIM DANE is a Lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve

STEVE FARRIS is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a nephew of Dane

AMANDA MALLARD is a nurse originally stationed in Honolulu

ROY HARRIS is an FBI Agent working directly with the U.S. Army and Navy

CAPTAIN BILL MERCHANT is a senior aide to Admiral Spruance

RAYMOND SPRUANCE is a U.S. Navy Admiral

MASAO IKEDA is a Japanese fighter pilot

TOKI is Ikeda’s friend in the Japanese Navy

ADMIRAL YAMAMOTO is a Japanese Naval Admiral in the Pacific Theater

TORELLI is a Lieutenant Submarine Commander

RUBY OLIVER is a survivor of a Japanese invasion of Alaska

WILHELM BRAUN is a former SS Officer and military attaché and current saboteur

GUNTHER KRAUSE is a former SS Officer and a fellow saboteur of Braun

Introductory Activity 1: Review with your students the introduction to Rising Sun, in which Robert Conroy explains the single auspicious circumstance that allowed the United States to gain the upper hand at World War II’s Battle of Midway—the tardiness of Japanese subs. Ask your students to respond to the following question in a quickwrite: are there any events in your life that could have led to a completely different outcome if one aspect about the event was different? Use the following discussion prompts to explore the purpose and significance of alternative histories:

1. Show your students a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEzRdZGYNvA) detailing the “Double Slit Experiment”, in which it was observed that electron behavior changes when it is viewed, or measured. After a brief discussion of this phenomenon, explain that while history has been traditionally viewed as acting in an entirely different way than electrons—events occur and are solidified in time and memory—there have always been disputes concerning the veracity of recorded histories. Lead a discussion prompted by the following questions: How might history change when we look back uponit? Do the appearances of historical events change in the eyes of a culture that is continually changing itself? Why is historical perspective always in flux?

2. Project a slideshow of images representing revolutionary events, objects, and people. Such images might include the former Twin Towers of Manhattan, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, John Lennon, Saddam Hussein, George Bush and Al Gore, the Google search page, the iPhone, extreme weather events, the moon landing, the International Space Station, the Mars Rover, etc. Lead a discussion prompted by the question: Why is it important to reimagine past events as if they developed differently and produced entirely different results? What can we learn from alternative histories?

Introductory Activity 2: Inform your students that Rising Sun consists of both real-world and fictional characters. Provide your students a list of Rising Sun’s major characters (including “off-screen” characters such as General Rommel, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito, Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, General MacArthur, etc.) and have them search each name on the internet. During their research, have your students create a chart dividing fictional from nonfictional characters. As an ancillary project in which to partake throughout the reading of Rising Sun, each student may pick one real-world character and create a biographical sketch of his accomplishments, failures, personality traits, relationships, upbringing, fate, public statements, etc., which they may present to class in a multimedia presentation at the summation of reading Rising Sun.

GUIDE TO chapter 1

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- privy

- dogma

- reconnaissance

- rakish

- wardroom

- aberration

- rendezvous

- evade

- periscope

- knots (nautical speed)

- incongruous

- hull

- valiant

- skivvies

- flag bridge

- listing to port

- stern

- rivulet

- conflagration

- bewildered

- culmination

- banzai

- depth charge

- incredulous

- conning tower

- Japanese Zero

- strafing

Supportive media

- a chronological exposition of early to modern aircraft carriers at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/ships/carriers/carriers.asp

- a map illustrating WWII’s Pacific Theater with an emphasis on the Midway Atoll

- image of 20mm Oerlikon antiaircraft guns

- image of Japanese Kaidai-class submarine

- image/film clip of a Japanese Zero plane

- film clip of Ben Hur in which Hur is adrift at sea with a suicidal Roman Admiral

- a film clip of a depth charge can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1flVlL4Mf8k

Chapter 1 Summary:

- [1-6] Aboard the United States aircraft carrier Enterprise as it and carrier Hornet head to Midway to join Task Force 17 and rendezvous with carrier Yorktown, low-ranking Lieutenant Tim Dane attempts another bout of sleep after pacing the flight deck. The Enterprise, however, suddenly receives an onslaught of torpedoes from an undetected Japanese submarine that had breached Task Force 16. With the intent of joining Admiral Spruance on the flag bridge, Dane grabs a life jacket and heads to the flight deck where he is knocked to the ground by more explosions. After surveying much carnage, Dane is informed by Officer Mickey Greene that the Hornet has also been damaged, and Dane observes accompanying cruisers tending to carrier fires and destroyers searching for the enemy sub.

- [6-7] To the surprise of American sailors, the enemy sub pulls to the ocean surface and its captain Jochi Shigata orders continued firing of bullets and torpedoes against U.S. carriers, cruisers, and destroyers. As Shigata’s sub is blasted by a shell from a U.S. destroyer, the Enterprise is irreparably damaged by one last torpedo of Shigata’s.

- [7-10] Dane rises injured from the flight deck and observes chaos and confusion as he notices that the Enterprise is beginning to capsize. After Dane is implored for help by a concussed Admiral Spruance, Dane pushes Spruance into the ocean and follows Spruance into the water. Dane observes a nearly side-prone Enterprise and wonders about the fate of its nearly two-thousand crew members before gathering himself and Spruance upon a liferaft. Meanwhile, Japanese planes continue to attack the U.S. carriers, destroyers, and cruisers. Both Spruance and Dane privately consider their possible fate as war prisoners. Suddenly, however, Spruance notices the rising periscope of American submarine Nautilus in the distance.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. In what point of view is Rising Sun told?

1. first-person limited

2. third-person limited

3. third-person omniscient

4. third-person objective

2. Why do senior naval officers maintain a sense of nostalgia for aircraft carriers?

1. Carriers have an endearing quality of being basic and unglamorous in construction.

2. Carriers have greater fire power than most other naval war vessels.

3. Carriers are considered aesthetically beautiful by older generation naval officers.

4. Carriers always survive oceanic warfare in American military history.

3. When Lieutenant Tim Dane restlessly paces his carrier’s flight deck shortly before an unexpected enemy attack, it is an example of

1. symbolism

2. foreshadowing

3. climax

4. ambiguity

4. What adjective BEST represents Lieutenant Dane’s emotional state as he heads to Midway?

1. mortified

2. anxious

3. reserved

4. valiant

5. Why is Dane concerned about smoke billowing from the burning carriers?

1. The smoke is making the damage of the carriers seem worse than it actually is.

2. The smoke is suffocating the crews aboard the carriers.

3. The smoke will interfere with the vision of gunners.

4. The smoke will act as a beacon for enemy fighter planes.

6. Why does Japanese captain Jochi Shigata order that his submarine surface?

7. Why does Admiral Spruance order Dane to kill him if there is a chance of being taken prisoner by Japanese forces?

8. Why is the destruction of carriers Enterprise and Hornet such a crushing blow to the U.S. Navy?

Answers:

1. c

2. a

3. b

4. a

5. d

6. Shigata and his crew wish to die as proud warriors.

7. Spruance fears that he would be tortured to reveal confidential information about the United States and thereby threaten the security of his country.

8. These carriers represent most of what major U.S. naval vessels remain after the attack upon Pearl Harbor.

Critical Thinking/Short Essay Questions:

1. Before pulling his submarine to the ocean’s surface to proudly face his and his crew’s imminent death, Japanese captain Jochi Shigata shouts, “Now we will die for our emperor!” What major cultural differences are already apparent in Rising Sun in terms of the ways Americans and Japanese relate to their leaders and authority figures? Are there any similarities in this context?

2. Are there any individuals or causes in America today for which people willingly sacrifice their health or even their lives?

GUIDE TO chapter 2

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- ROTC

- daunting

- rueful

- prudent

- quizzical

- litany

- buoy (v.)

- claustrophobic

- viable

- bogeymen

- rationing

- caste

- garrison

- gusto

- scuttlebutt

- bristle (v.)

- atrocity

- slips (n.)

- skipper

- Nips (slang)

- freighter

- dead to rights

- bureaucratic

- consular

- bow (n.)

- disconcerting

- insolence

- gird (v.)

- de facto

- Focus question/initiating activity: Investigate with your students the details of Jimmy Doolittle’s WWII bombing attack upon Tokyo. Encourage your students to regularly consider how Doolittle’s attack is continually relevant to the plot of Rising Sun. A website dedicated to Doolittle’s raiders can be found at http://www.doolittleraider.com/.

Supportive media

- map illustrating the Hawaiian Islands, with an emphasis on Honolulu

- maps illustrating Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, Java Sea, and Coral Sea

- map illustrating Jimmy Doolittle’s bombing attack upon Tokyo with concise description of strategy and results

- image of Nazi U-boat

- image of submarine periscope and submarine quarter

- image of WWII-era Red Cross workers

- images of WWII-era posters encouraging food rationing

- Videos concerning food rationing during WWII can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60qOtTaz6VQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXRZgVm11pA.

Chapter 2 Summary:

- [11-12] Rescued from the ocean, Lieutenant Dane sits in a Honolulu hospital room and, with a feeling of disconnection from recent events, contemplates his hasty and unexpected arrival upon the Enterprise, as well as the survival of his acquaintance Lieutenant Commander Greene, who had been badly burned in the attack.

- [13-16] Startled by the presence of young nurse Amanda Mallard, Dane is taken by her blunt approach and finds common civilian ground with her as each explain how they came to their careers. Mallard asks Dane if he is still serving under Spruance, who, although recovering out of hospital, is dealing with the failure of what is now being called the Midway Massacre due to the sinking of not only carriers Enterprise and Hornet, but of carrier Yorktown near Midway. Leading him outdoors for a stroll, Mallard suggests to Dane that he will be evacuated to California as the Hawaii base is considered a lost cause, and Dane determines to evacuate by submarine for his own security.

- [16-17] Air raid sirens sound, and as Mallard leads Dane to a small shelter, both realize that the sirens are signaling an actual enemy attack. As explosions occur near the shelter, Dane successfully draws from Mallard her feelings and possible plans concerning her future, which includes sailing back to the mainland. With unease, Dane considers the potential omen of government sanctioned food rationing, already in place. When an all-clear sounds, Dane and Mallard return to Dane’s hospital room, where he is greeted by an officer who informs Dane that he is awaited by Admiral Spruance. Dane assures Mallard that he will contact her.

- [18-19] In a meeting room, Dane is greeted by Captain Bill Merchant, who informs Dane and personnel not only of an imminent navy evacuation of Hawaii by submarine to San Diego, but of the fact that many dependents might be forced to remain on the island. Merchant clarifies that only one carrier, the Saratoga, remains in the Pacific theater against nine Japanese carriers. Remaining battleships, according to Merchant, are either old or stretched thinly in Admiral Nimitz’s Atlantic theater that is scattered with Nazi U-boats. Following the meeting, Merchant pulls Dane into a separate room to commend him for saving Admiral Spruance and relays a message from Spruance ordering Dane to remain confidential of Spruance’s request to be killed in case of enemy capture.

- [20-21] Dane meets Mallard in Waikiki, where they stroll down a beach and remember the slaughters on the Enterprise and at Pearl Harbor. To Dane’s surprise, Mallard confidently conveys her plans to sail alone to California if she fails to catch a transport. The lieutenant and nurse share an embrace and kiss.

- [21-23] Before boarding one of three submarines carrying Admiral Spruance’s remaining staff, Dane and Merchant are lectured by Lieutenant Commander Torelli, who gives strict orders concerning the behavior of boarders and frank warnings about living conditions upon the sub. When asked of the possibility of enemy onslaught, Torelli ensures last-resort action and addresses the inaccuracy of his torpedoes.

- [23-24] Following Torelli’s lecture, Dane makes his way to the submarine, waving sorrowfully at Mallard who is cordoned behind a fence with other civilians. Upon entering the sub, Dane is overcome by its stenches. Before lowering to the ocean depths off Oahu, Merchant informs Dane that they will be bunking together.

- [24-27] Meanwhile, upon arriving to San Diego, National Guard detachment and now U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Steve Farris, uncle of Dane, considers his sordid trek from Chicago to California as part of a recon battalion to aid against Japanese invasion. Though his accompanying servicemen are eager to fight the Japanese, Farris accepts his new role as a beach patroller.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What skills does an otherwise inexperienced Dane have that led him to be stationed upon the carrier Enterprise?

1. Dane has experience shooting heavy artillery.

2. Dane can read and speak Japanese.

3. Dane was considered “agreeable” by higher ranking officers.

4. Dane was skilled at enemy interrogation.

2. What literary device is present when Dane remembers Spruance having told him before the Midway mission to “stay out of everyone’s way”?

1. irony

2. foreshadowing

3. hyperbole

4. understatement

3. When air raid sirens sound outside his Honolulu hospital, what does Dane decide is a “great motivator” of people?

1. love

2. revenge

3. fear

4. honor

4. What fact indicates an inherent weakness in the U.S. navy at this point in Rising Sun?

1. Many officers are injured or aging.

2. There are few working or available U.S. battleships for the Pacific theater.

3. The constructions of various U.S. battleships are not complete.

4. all of the above

5. What pair of adjectives BEST describe nurse Mallard?

1. docile and submissive

2. dispassionate and domineering

3. blithe and optimistic

4. bold and resourceful

6. What conclusion does Dane draw in terms of how the Japanese military knew enough about Pearl Harbor to successfully attack it?

1. Japanese consular officials were working as spies at Pearl Harbor.

2. Japanese-Americans had worked as spies at Pearl Harbor.

3. The Japanese had advanced reconnaissance technology near the Hawaiian Islands.

4. Traitor American military officials gave information about Pearl Harbor to the Japanese military.

7. Why does Mallard most fear being captured by Japanese forces?

8. Why is the Californian coast suddenly vulnerable to Japanese invasion?

Answers:

1. b

2. a

3. c

4. d

5. d

6. a

7. Japanese forces had been known to rape and murder captured women.

8. A loss of U.S. carriers during The Midway Massacre led to the naval abandonment of Pearl Harbor, opening a lane for the Japanese to the American west coast.

Critical Thinking/Short Essay Questions:

1. Lieutenant Dane describes young naval officers having their hair burned off in the attack upon Enterprise. What might this event symbolize?

2. Lieutenant Dane and nurse Mallard consider the effect of government food rationing upon the United States. Consider the notion that one day you might have to make sacrifices of daily items for the “greater good” of your country. What are things that your government might ask you to sacrifice or severely limit your use of? What are things that you would not be willing to sacrifice? What are things that you would sacrifice without a second thought?

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Etymology activity: Amanda Mallard refers to paranoid civilians in Honolulu as “Nervous Nellies.” Also, Lieutenant Commander Torelli is paraphrased as using the idiom “dead to rights” in explaining his failure to lock torpedoes on an enemy cruiser. Have your students research the origin of these phrases. After students have deciphered the etymology for each, ask them to search another term or phrase particular to the original age of either idiom and present their findings to the class, perhaps using the term or the phrases in original sentences. Though this is an opportunity for students to practice researching credible and unbiased internet sources, one recommended website for deciphering word origins is www.etymonline.com.

2. In explaining to Lieutenant Dane her path to becoming a nurse, Nurse Amanda Mallard says, “…there aren’t all that many occupations [in the twentieth century] where a woman is welcome.” Ask your students to consider the cultural expectations and societal/economic opportunities for women in the 20st century and discuss observations and opinions as a class. In groups, have students research the average life of a woman in WWII-era America. Leading questions might include: “What did many women do after graduating high school?” “How did women living in the suburbs spend most of their time?” “How did the lives of American women change when their husbands went off to war?” “What were common occupations of American women before WWII. Websites for research include:

- The Discovery Education website at http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury/decadebydecade/

- The National Archives website at http://www.archives.gov.

- The New Orleans National WII Museum website at http://www.nationalww2museum.org/see-hear/collections/focus-on/women-at-war.html.

GUIDE TO chapter 3

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- immersion

- forays

- diplomat

- barbarian

- Shinto

- jeopardize

- choreograph

- floatplane

- battlewagon

- flotilla

- triviality

- desolation

- paratrooper

- elite

- tramp steamer

- counterfeit

- tawdry

- slovenly

- stoic

- terminus

- lock (marine)

- bayonet

- apparitions

- wizen

- idyllic

- catamaran

Supportive media

- image of a Shinto priest

- map illustrating Japanese invasion of Manchuria with concise description of goal

- image of a WWII-era floatplane

- image of Japanese Kongo-class battleship

- image of a WWII-era freighter

- map illustrating the Panama Canal, including images of Lakes Gatun and Miraflores

- image of a bayonet

- image of a WWII-era catamaran

Chapter 3 Summary:

- [29-32] As their sub runs on the ocean’s surface, Torelli joins Dane and Merchant while Dane explains how he learned the Japanese language through his father and cultural immersion. Dane also explains how the Code of the Bushido has been radicalized by the Japanese military, and how there is an ongoing rivalry between the Japanese army and navy.

- [32-34] With a sudden on-deck commotion, enemy ships are reported on the horizon, the sub is submerged, and each man retreats to his bunk. The sub shakes with two increasingly intense explosions before its lights go out. Eventually, the sub’s lights return and less intense explosions are felt. Torelli notes that two Japanese battleships and two Japanese carriers have been sighted and are headed to a nearly defenseless Honolulu. Dane thinks of Mallard.

- [34-36] In Honolulu, nurse Mallard hides with others in a basement as Japanese planes fly over Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, successfully striking down retaliating American planes. Eventually, an all-clear alarm sounds, and Mallard witnesses the looting of a grocery store and the brutal beating of its Japanese owner and his wife. Mallard tends to the man, who is taken by ambulance. After giving futile statements to police, Mallard decides to go see an acquaintance named Mack about obtaining a boat with which to sail to California.

- [36-39] Leading Japanese Marines in a disguised steamer, Captain Seizo Arao nears Panama’s Pacific coast, anchoring near the Panama Canal’s Pacific terminus and releasing his marines onto the coast at midnight for a 50-mile trek to American base Fort Clayton. At the fort, Arao orders his marines to use explosives to drain artificial lakes used for ship transportation and lock-water preservation, while losing half of his men to American retaliation. Arao takes to a higher ground, unsheathes his sword, and proudly takes American bullets. Overhearing that he will be taken prisoner, Arao unpins a grenade as an American troop and medic draw toward him.

- [39- ] In Nanakuli, Mallard and companion nurses Sandy and Grace visit Mack, from whom Mallard beseeches a sailboat journey from Oahu to California. Mack agrees with a stipulation of waiting a month for the women to gather supplies and enhance their sailing skills.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. Complete the following analogy.

Bushido : surrender : : duty :

1. death

2. survival

3. glory

4. sacrifice

2. What important decision does Torelli make after an attack on the San Diego-bound submarine?

1. The sub will travel submerged during the day and on the ocean’s surface at night.

2. The sub will travel submerged until it reaches San Diego.

3. The sub will increase its speed to ensure a quicker arrival at San Diego.

4. The sub will slightly change its course to San Diego in order to confuse the enemy.

3. What literary device is used when Hawaii is referred to as “little more than a punching bag”?

1. simile

2. personification

3. metaphor

4. overstatement

4. Seizo Arao’s attitude at Fort Clayton can be described as:

1. reserved and reverent

2. superior and enthusiastic

3. senseless and careless

4. cautious and anxious

5. What is the purpose of Captain Arao’s men setting off explosives at Fort Clayton?

6. Why is capturing the Panama Canal important for Japanese Captain Seizo Arao?

Answers:

1. b

2. a

3. c

4. b

5. Arao intends to destroy gates that maintain artificial lakes used as ship highways and reservoirs.

6. The Panama Canal was used by the American military to move its ships from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.

Critical Thinking/Short Answer Question:

1. Of the Japanese, Lieutenant Dane comments, “…they all look alike, don’t they?” Dane also remarks that in his experience growing up in Japan he noticed that the average Japanese person living outside urban areas rarely saw another person that did not look Japanese. What is the danger of perceiving a culture as appearing “all the same”? On the other hand, what is the danger of a culture remaining so insulated that it rarely if ever interacts with others that look or act differently? Are there places in America that remain culturally insulated?

GUIDE TO chapter 4

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- briefing (n.)

- dismal

- lecher

- politico

- inundate

- contingent

- cutter

- shakedown cruise

- truncate

- venerable

- Springfield

- Garand

- astronomic

- sot

- CO

- twin hulls

- mast

- ensign

- deluded

- revered

- hubris

- samurai

- enshrine

- convoy

- tracers

- nimble

- disgorge

- citadel

- turret

- fervor

- merchantmen

- draconian

- numerical

- qualitative

- demoralize

- lamentation

- erstwhile

- saboteur

Supportive media

- review map detailing Pacific Theater, emphasizing Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal

- map illustrating Aleutian Islands Attu and Kiska

- image of WWII-era gunboat and cutter boat

- image of 1903 model Springfield rifle and Garand rifle

- image of 12-gauge shotgun, .32 caliber revolver, and 1873 Winchester carbine rifle

- images of Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine

- image of Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga

- image of Japanese battleship Yamato and British battleship Dreadnaught

Chapter 4 Summary:

- [43-48] Lieutenant Dane arrives in San Diego with one carrier remaining due to an enemy strike. Dane is promoted to lieutenant commander and elevated in Merchant’s reconnaissance group, which is assigned to Admiral Nimitz, while Spruance is reassigned as Chief of Staff to Nimitz. The following morning, Dane joins Spruance, Merchant, and Torelli in a conference led by Admiral William Halsey to inform Admiral Ernest J. King, now in charge of naval operations, of events in the Pacific Theater. Halsey describes the destruction of Hawaiian naval bases, and he notes that the remaining American carrier the Saratoga will wait in San Diego while other carriers are being constructed. As Dane realizes the vulnerability of Alaska and Australia, Halsey confidently claims that the Japanese will not attack California, but King admits that the Japanese have control of the seas. King reassures, however, that warship production will be shifted to carriers. All the while, Dane wonders how American offensives will stand up against Japanese fanaticism.

- [48-51] A day before heading with his platoon to the village Bridger on the California coast to build a post, Steve Farris, nephew of Lieutenant Tim Dane, frets over his rusty shooting skills, and argues with his alcoholic Captain Lytle, who shows only slight concern for preparing against Japanese invasion. Once stationed on the coast near Bridger, Farris worries about the vulnerability of his platoon which Lytle established on the exposed coastline. Farris is granted permission by Lytle to set up his platoon with Sergeant Stecher more inland and behind hills.

- [51-52] In Oahu, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace practice sailing Mack’s catamaran, which Mack spends time improving. The group agrees to keep a low profile to avoid detection by neighbors, and Mack plans for the group to leave by the following weekend.

- [52-55] On a flying mission to scout out American ships leaving Honolulu, Japanese fighter pilot Masao Ikeda reflects on the superior quality of the Japanese Zero planes as well as their fliers, including himself. Ikeda responds to radio orders and begins bombing and gunning American ships, causing great destruction. Running out of ammunition, Ikeda returns to his carrier Kaga.

- [55-60] Anchored at a previous American base at Midway Island in his mighty battleship Yamato, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto realizes that large battleships are no longer the decisive variables in modern warfare. Yamamoto leads Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in an examination of Yamato and over dinner Yamamoto argues the importance of building more carriers, warns against the increasing U.S. military strength, and requests a stream of supply ships from Japan. Furthermore, Yamamoto promises to wreak devastation on American cities, but requests that the health of American prisoners be maintained as to provide bargaining chips later in the war. Yamamoto concludes by expressing his plans to focus his campaign against the US, as well as requesting that German saboteurs begin destroying U.S. coastal installations.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. According to Admiral Halsey, what would make American carriers especially vulnerable to an enemy attack?

1. being sent out to sea without the protection of carrier planes

2. being sent out to sea before being fully repaired

3. being sent out to sea without several accompanying battleships

4. being sent out to sea without the most highly qualified personnel

2. What military technological improvement does Steve Farris experience with his platoon?

1. advanced rifles

2. reinforced helmets

3. weatherized tents

4. reconnaissance binoculars

3. What major foreshadowing event takes place in Chapter 4?

1. Lieutenant Dane’s realizes that his gun firing skills are rusty.

2. Captain Lytle begins drinking again.

3. Mack supplies his boat with an extra sails.

4. Lieutenant Dane moves his and Sergeant Stecher’s platoon.

4. What percentage of Japanese pilots flunked out of Zero flying training?

1. 75%

2. 80%

3. 90%

4. All candidates were accepted due to a scarcity of fliers.

5. What is pilot Masao Ikeda’s reaction when he notices that his targets are not heavily guarded?

1. relief

2. suspicion

3. annoyance

4. anger

6. What does Japanese pilot Masao Ikeda leave of himself to be enshrined in case of death?

7. What are two disadvantages in flying the Japanese Zero plane?

8. What does Admiral Yamamoto suggest doing to Japanese cruisers and battleships?

9. How did Admiral Yamamoto make himself a controversial figure in Japan?

10. What is a consequence of America delaying offensive actions in the Pacific due to a scarcity of carriers?

Answers:

1. a

2. b

3. d

4. c

5. c

6. Ikeda leaves behind his fingernail clippings and a lock of his hair.

7. The Zero planes lack armor, and Zero pilots are not given parachutes.

8. Yamamoto wishes to convert Japanese cruisers and battleships into carriers.

9. Yamamoto originally suggested that Japan not fight the U.S.

10. The Japanese will be able to build an airfield on Guadalcanal, and America will have to forego building bases in Alaska due to a lack of protection from the Navy.

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Amanda Mallard rightly assumes that Mack provides her and her fellow nurses guns not only to protect themselves, but to commit suicide if under threat of Japanese capture. We have already learned that Japanese soldiers fought by a philosophy of self-sacrifice. Contrast Mack’s philosophy of suicide with that of Japanese soldiers and marines. Use Japanese pilot Masao Ikeda as a reference point. What are the key differences in terms of what ideas drive each person’s philosophy?

2. Japanese Admiral Yamamoto is described as having a Western influence in terms of living and traveling in America, serving in Washington, attending American schools, and enjoying American culture. How might being influenced by the West serve as both a benefit and an impediment?

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Chapter 4 provides several opportunities for student research. California governor Culbert Olson is mentioned as calling for the internment of Japanese civilians; Admiral Halsey mentions that the Works Progress Administration had been assigned to restore the shipping reservoirs at the Panama Canal; and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto bemoans death marches inflicted upon American prisoners of war. A student group can research internment camps and write an imaginary diary which illuminates daily experiences in a camp. Another group can present the goals, accomplishments, and failures of the WPA, as well as lead a class discussion on whether or not the U.S. would benefit today from such a program. A third group can make a presentation on death marches instituted by the Russians and Japanese, as well as death camps instituted by the Russians and Germans.

2. Japanese fighter pilot Masao Ikeda reflects upon his Zero airplane, which was built by the Mitsubishi company. Students might be surprised to know that many common automobile companies today were once major suppliers of military vehicles and machinery in the past. Have student groups research various automobile companies that have existed at least since WWII and make presentations on their contributions to society outside of the automobile world. Recommended websites for research include:

- A concise article about the American auto industry during WWII can be found at http://www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24088.

- San Francisco’s National Park Service website at http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwiibayarea/for.HTM

3. Masao Ikeda thinks of himself as a “modern samurai.” Have students research the life of original samurais and compare and contrast them with WWII-era Japanese soldiers, and perhaps even American Marines. Students may exhibit their findings by illustrating a bisected human figure on which one side represents a samurai and the other represents a modern Japanese soldier, each side’s characteristics represented with words and graphics.

GUIDE TO chapter 5

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- incarnation

- amateur

- adamant

- subversive

- intern (v.)

- odious

- heave to

- succinct

- attaché

- celibate

- hierarchy

- corps

- plight

- steppe

- titan

- lethargy

- decadent

- alias

- gringo

- Kaiser

- Focus question/initiating activity: Introduce the notion of the kamikaze pilot to your students and guide them in a discussion concerning the ethics of such a tactic. Students should make connections to modern suicide bombers.

Supportive media

- images of “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” in Washington, D.C., as well as similar tombs around the world

- image of a WWII-era shortwave radio

- images/film clips of Manzanar internment camp

- images of American prisoners at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippines

- a transcript of President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which can be found at http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=74

- image of a WWII-era Japanese cruiser

- image and concise description of Annie Oakley

- map illustrating Germany’s Eastern Front

- concise description of the Treaty of Versailles’ demands upon Germany

- map illustrating Mexico City, Mexico

Chapter 5 Summary:

- [61-63] Learning that most Americans being escorted from Hawaii to California were slaughtered by Japanese pilots, Lieutenant Dane wonders about the fate of nurse Mallard. Dane discusses with Merchant the superior skills of Japanese fighter pilots, as well as the underwhelming reaction to a report that Dane sent regarding the suicidal tendencies of these pilots. Before thinking once again of Mallard, Dane laments the weakness of the U.S. Navy with the departure of carrier Saratoga from the Californian coast.

- [63-66] Due to rumors of encroaching Japanese ships and the rising vulnerability of his boat in the face of looters, Mack decides that he and the nurses will sail to California. As she checks her car for any forgotten items, Mallard hears screams and sees Mack lying injured while Sandy and Grace struggle with two men who apparently want to take Mack’s boat. Mallard obtains a gun from Mack’s boat and shoots it into the air to alert the attackers who are attempting to rape Sandy and Grace. Mallard shoots one attacker in the leg, while the other attacker is killed by Mack. Hearing sirens in the distance, Mallard considers explaining the attack to officials, but Mack shows a desire to avoid the police. The group, therefore, proceeds to set sail.

- [66-68] North of Captain Lytle’s base, Farris and Stecher lead their enthusiastic platoon in drills at their newly positioned post, which has a strong vantage point, is well hidden, and is near the small village of Bridger where a radio, provisions, and a phone line are available, as well as a small store owned by a man known as Sullivan. Farris considers the beautiful surroundings and thinks of Dane.

- [68-72] At a warehouse near San Diego, Dane is ordered to interview Japanese waiting to be sent to an internment camp. Dane weighs the threat of German saboteurs, many of whom did not survive their entrance onto the mainland, against that of Japanese subversives, whom Dane doubts are a major threat. Dane accepts, however, his inevitable role in Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Dane considers accepting an invitation from Farris.

- [72-75] Upon nightfall, Mallard and her crew drop their boat’s sail when they notice a Japanese cruiser, which fires a shell near them. Mack hands the nurses guns for which to commit suicide, but the cruiser suddenly turns, though not before firing a second nearby shell. As the boat journey proceeds, Mallard is pleased with its progress, but worries about her role in the violent beach episode, as well as Mack’s possible criminality. Mack gathers the nurses to discuss the precarious nature of navigating straightly to California. Grace and Mack become intimate in Mack’s cabin.

- [75-78] Wilhelm Braun, former SS officer and recent military attaché at the German Embassy in Mexico City, plans an entrance into the U.S. from Monterrey, Mexico. Having remained inconspicuous in a Mexico that recently declared war against Germany, Braun is eager to join the war on the American west coast. Braun loads a truck with artillery, ammunition, and explosives and heads to the Mexican-American border.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What is the last remaining U.S. carrier on the American West Coast?

1. the Shangri-la

2. the North Carolina

3. the Saratoga

4. Washington

2. Lieutenant Dane considers all of these reasons for putting Japanese civilians in internment camps EXCEPT:

1. the threat of Japanese-American civilians being brutalized by Americans

2. suspicion that Japanese civilians were working against America

3. alarm over Japanese fanaticism

4. evidence of Japanese-Americans working as spies

3. What is Wilhelm Braun’s view of the Japanese forces?

1. They are capable and respectable.

2. They are subhuman but useful.

3. They are like loving relatives.

4. They are incompetent and will fail.

4. What is Wilhelm Braun’s primary reason for wanting to aid a Japanese invasion of the U.S. West Coast?

5. What hyperbole does Dane accuse Admiral Yamamoto of committing?

6. What people does Wilhelm Braun compare with the Japanese?

7. Who is Wilhelm Braun’s distant cousin?

Answers:

1. c

2. d

3. b

4. Braun believes that aiding Japan in an attack on America will prevent the America from helping Russian or Britain in the war against the Third Reich.

5. Yamamoto claims that Japan can push forward a peace treaty by invading the American West Coast and Washington, D.C.

6. Braun compares the Japanese people to the Jewish people.

7. Wilhelm Braun’s distant cousin is Ava Braun, Hitler’s mistress.

Critical Thinking Questions/Short Essay Prompts:

1. Write a brief critique of Conroy’s depiction of American women so far in Rising Sun. Keep in mind the time period in which Conroy is depicting his characters. Is Conroy’s portrayal of women justified? Is Conroy’s portrayal of women balanced in terms of illustrating positive and negative attributes? Be sure to address the character of Mack and his relationship with the nurses

2. The issue of rape is already a common motif by Chapter 5 of Rising Sun. Write a brief analysis exploring the reasons for Conroy addressing the issue of rape, and any deeper indications beneath this issue so far in the novel.

3. Dane considers that many American immigrants still feel deep ties to their homelands, even experiencing pride for the military successes of their former leaders. Dane also wonders whether some immigrants feel stronger ties to their homelands than their new homes in America. In a short essay, answer the question, What determines loyalty to one’s country? Consider addressing recent wars that have divided Americans on the issue of country loyalty.

GUIDE TO chapter 6

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- PBY flying boat

- contraband

- electorate

- innocuous

- excursion

- Nippon

- multihued

- facetious

- traipse

- extrapolate

- finagle

- plying

- gregarious

- PFC

- Focus question/initiating activity: Consider showing your students the scene from the original film Red Dawn in which Soviet paratroopers land upon an American schoolyard during an invasion. Lead a discussion scrutinizing the degree of security the average American feels in his/her daily life.

Supportive media

- images of PBY planes and shipping freighters

- images of submarine torpedoes

- map illustrating American-Canadian coastline, as well as Alaska and the Cook Inlet

- images of a P38 “Lightning”, P39, P40, P47, and F4F fighter plane

- image of a Type 94 submarine torpedo

- image of WWII-era Jane’s military publication

Chapter 6 Summary:

- [79-82] At Merchant’s request, Lieutenant Dane leaves on a Catalina PBY flying boat with a crew to track possible enemy vessels off the Pacific coast. The crew skeptically observes an American-flagged freighter which the pilot plans on radioing to ensure its integrity. After observing another freighter, Dane begins to doubt the usefulness of the mission considering the vastness of the Pacific coast. The pilot claims to have spotted a Japanese sub days before and wonders why the Japanese do not attack American freighters. Dane explains that the Japanese warrior code demands that only warships are targeted.

- [82-85] Mallard holds onto a lifeline as the catamaran nearly capsizes with a rogue wave. Mallard calls for help from Sandy when she finds Grace and Mack injured in the cabin, Mack suffering a decidedly unrecoverable head wound. The women take inventory of meager provisions, and Grace reveals that Mack was once an embezzler who recently left his money to the women in his will. Later in the night Mack dies, and the women push his body into the ocean and face the rest of the voyage themselves. Mallard thinks of Dane.

- [85-87] Admiral Yamamoto ponders the quandary of resupplying submarines with torpedoes so that they may begin attacking merchant ships, a tactic that several Japanese admirals begin to support. Yamamoto considers solutions to rearming submarines with torpedoes, including seizing a Hawaiian base to shorten a resupply trip to Tokyo; establishing a base at Anchorage, Alaska; and using Japanese civilian tankers and freighters to provide subs with fuel, provisions, and torpedoes. Hoping to keep several subs near each major Pacific coast port, Yamamoto takes comfort in the fact that Japan’s naval force has the advantage of being fluid against a static American force defending its Pacific coast.

- [87-91] Lieutenant Dane arrives at Farris’ camp and describes to Farris his experiences with the Enterprise up to the present. Dane comments upon the failure of military tactics at Pearl Harbor, as well as the difficulty of U.S. intelligence to decrypt Japanese codes with a shortage of Japanese speakers on top of complexities within the codes. After Dane and Farris contemplate an eventual truce with Japan, Sergeant Stecher informs Dane that the Japanese have invaded Alaska.

- [92-95] Owner of a small restaurant in Anchorage, Alaska, Ruby Oliver is about to serve her sole customer when a building across her street explodes under a Japanese bomb, its shockwaves hurling Oliver against a wall and killing her customer, now sprawled over her. Oliver frees herself from under her customer and escapes as bombing continues. Noticing Japanese ships entering a channel, as well as incoming Japanese planes searching for targets, Oliver returns to her restaurant to gather a shotgun and begins to head to Fort Richardson until American military trucks roar past her carrying soldiers. Oliver moves to the second story of a house where she witnesses the soldiers being slaughtered by shell explosions from Japanese warships. As surviving American soldiers surrender to Japanese forces taking to the streets and hundreds of other Japanese soldiers are unloaded from landing craft, Oliver realizes that Anchorage has been lost. Seeing Japanese soldiers execute civilians and soldiers alike, Oliver decides to escape, taking with her several American soldiers whom she finds hiding behind bushes.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What had Lieutenant Dane done to annoy high-ranking officers?

1. refused to let his pilot radio an American-flagged freighter

2. wrote a report calling for humane treatment of Japanese-Americans

3. left his platoon to visit his nephew Steve Farris

4. criticized the U.S. Navy’s failed retaliation at Pearl Harbor

2. What is a risk of a PBY flying boat carrying bombs in flight?

1. Unused bombs might explode during landing.

2. The bombs might dangerously weigh the plane down.

3. The bombs were known to unexpectedly release from racks of PBY crafts.

4. The bombs were known to unexpectedly explode during takeoff.

3. What is the PRIMARY reason that the Japanese target no American ships other than warships?

1. There is a better chance of assassinating higher-ranking officers.

2. They would rather save American shipping boats to exploit them for their own needs.

3. Japanese submarines have a shortage of torpedoes.

4. Under the Code of the Bushido, it is only manly to attack a warship.

4. What is Admiral Yamamoto’s opinion of the Code of the Bushido?

5. According to Lieutenant Dane, what is the PRIMARY reason that the American Navy failed to protect Pearl Harbor?

6. What confuses Ruby Oliver concerning the Japanese raid on Anchorage?

Answers:

1. b

2. a

3. d

4. Yamamoto believes that the Code of the Bushido is foolish.

5. High-ranking officers failed to cooperate with one another.

6. Oliver does not understand how Anchorage was not warned of the Japanese raid.

GUIDE TO chapter 7

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- civvies

- impotent

- unfazed

- goad

- unvarnished

- tactician

- proponent

- Hobson’s choice

- crow-fly miles

- stopgap

- subsistence

- tantalize

- scurvy

- desiccated

- gaunt

- dilapidated

- serape

- ingratiating

- Montezuma’s Revenge

- cursory

- the Great War

- stocky

- credentials

- devout

- jurisdiction

- Luger

- ballistics

- yokel

- tourniquet

Supportive media

- map illustrating Kenai Peninsula, Aleutian Islands, Juneau Alaska, Vancouver, and the Puget Sound

- a graphic illustrating the distance from Oahu to San Francisco

- images of B17, B24, and B25 bombers

- map illustrating U.S.-Mexican border at Campo California

- image of WWII-era tanker ship

Chapter 7 Summary:

- [97-01] Dane returns to Spruance’s offices where Captain Merchant confirms that the Japanese have invaded Alaska by way of the Aleutian Islands. Just before Admiral Nimitz enters, Merchant admits that the U.S. has little to do in way of offense and explains to Nimitz various challenges to defending Alaska. When Nimitz inquires about American air power, Merchant enumerates disadvantages for the American Air Force in terms of flying distance and lack of refueling spots. Merchant suggests setting up a base in Vancouver, but Dane suddenly suggests, to the agreement of Nimitz, bombing Japanese-held Anchorage with PBY planes starting from Puget Sound. Dane also warns Nimitz of the fanaticism of Colonel Yamasaki, who is in charge of the Alaska invasion.

- [101-04] Sickened with malnutrition and unsure of their course, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace begin contemplating their deaths as they proceed slowly on the catamaran to California. In a blinding fog, Amanda suddenly notices a difference in the sound of waves and the boat eventually scrapes upon a sandy shore. On shore the women pull the boat closer in, rest briefly as the fog clears, and are approached by two men with rifles who inform the women that they have landed near San Francisco.

- [104-07] At the California-Mexico border, Wilhelm Braun greets two Customs guards with his American identification and fabricates an elaborate story concerning his journey into the mainland. Braun executes both guards when they begin to inspect his cargo and drags them to a ravine before driving in to California.

- [107-10] While the U.S. Navy works on fitting PBY planes with bombs in Vancouver, Captain Merchant sends Dane to the border to investigate the incident at the U.S. Customs post. Dane is met by an FBI agent Roy Harris who details the murder, and Dane enumerates reasons as to why the murderer was not a Japanese saboteur, but rather a foreign white man. Dane returns to duty.

- [110-13] Lieutenant Farris watches in the night as a burning oil tanker near the coast receives torpedoes from an enemy submarine. Farris orders necessities to be gathered for the tanker survivors, and he and Sergeant Stecher are momentarily perplexed by the sight of Captain Lytle’s men shooting at the tanker. Farris and his men help survivors to shore, witnessing much carnage. Farris is greeted by the tanker captain, who is livid over the firing at his boat. Dane confronts a drunken Lytle over firing at the tanker.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. Why does Captain Merchant believe that the Japanese took Anchorage?

2. List at least three reasons why the American military cannot easily defend Alaska after it has been invaded.

3. List at least two pieces of evidence that Dane uses to suggest why the U.S. Customs murder was not committed by multiple Japanese saboteurs?

Answers:

1. Dane believes that the Japanese intended to send a message of intimidation and even provoke the Americans into responding irrationally.

2. 1) The Japanese currently occupy a route to Alaska by ocean 2) A “highway to Alaska” from the mainland has not been finished, its ocean supply routes are no longer dependable, and the men working on the road are being pulled out 3) There is no railway to Anchorage 4) Most planes at Anchorage have been destroyed by the Japanese 5) There is only a scattered and poorly trained supply of American troops stationed in Alaska.

3. 1) The Customs guards, which had rear-head wounds, would have not turned their backs to Japanese people 2) The guards did not split up, suggesting that only one individual was being inspected 3) Anyone other than a white person would have caused suspicion.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration: Lieutenant Farris suddenly remembers the phrase by Thomas Jefferson, “a firebell in the night,” which makes reference to the Missouri Compromise. Explain to your students that good authors never incorporate information into a narrative that does not have some significance to its plot. Have your students research the Missouri Compromise, as well as Jefferson’s fear that drawing state lines would threaten the integrity of the Union. Challenge your students to make a literary connection from the Jefferson reference to the plot and possible themes of Rising Sun. A possible theme might be “the consequence of the passions of men.”

- A transcript of Thomas Jefferson’s response to U.S. Senator John Holmes concerning the Missouri Compromise can be found at the Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/159.html.

GUIDE TO chapter 8

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- elixir

- bosom

- augment

- futile

- vindication

- inane

- bow gunner

- biased

- burgeoning

- destitute

- exodus

Supportive media

- image of a .45 pistol

- image of a C47 plane

- images of French individuals and families fleeing an occupied France during WWII

Chapter 8 Summary:

- [115-19] Recovering in an Oakland hospital, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace are informed by Captain Harding that they are the only known survivors sailing from Hawaii, and that their story should remain secret to prevent inspiring other fatal journeys from a Hawaii that is starving and weak. Harding convinces the women to remain momentarily in Oakland due to scarce housing, and he promises Mallard that he will search for Dane.

- [119-21] Ruby Oliver proceeds to lead a small group of American soldiers, newly joined by a young war photographer, out of Anchorage. The shaken photographer informs Oliver that he has been documenting Japanese brutality against Americans. Oliver intends to continue leading the soldiers to safety, hoping to expose Japanese atrocities with the photographer’s film footage.

- [121-24] On his way to Puget Sound, Dane, along with his pilot, begins to doubt the effectiveness of his proposed bombing mission, though Admiral Spruance remains confident. The next day Dane is flown to Juneau for fueling and armament, and the following morning he joins a dozen planes on the bombing mission. On the way to Anchorage, Dane receives radio messages from Oliver. The bombing takes place quickly over Japanese tents, and one PBY plane fatally crashes after being fired upon. Dane witnesses another wounded PBY plane attempting an ocean landing, and he worries that his mission sacrificed Americans at Anchorage.

- [124-26] In the small town of Grover, California, a hung over Fred Hanson notices foreign warships offshore, which suddenly begin shelling the town. As Hanson flees for his home, shells continue to bombard Grover, causing mass carnage. After joining his wife and children, the family begin to flee Grover, but the shelling suddenly stops and the warships begin to retreat. Their home destroyed, Hanson and his wife and children are left with few options.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What adjective best describes the interaction between Amanda Mallard and Captain Harding?

1. dispassionate

2. compassionate

3. imposing

4. pleading

2. Why does Ensign Tuller argue that Dane’s plan to bomb Anchorage with PBY planes is a bad idea?

1. PBY planes are poor at hitting ground targets.

2. The bombs on PBY planes often fail to release from their racks.

3. PBY planes will be needed for other missions.

4. The Japanese will be expecting an attack.

3. According to Admiral Spruance, who is most ardently calling for retaliation against the Japanese for their Alaskan invasion?

1. President Roosevelt

2. Admiral Nimitz

3. Great Britain

4. the American people

4. Which adjective best illustrates Dane’s feelings after the bombing mission on Anchorage?

1. ambivalent

2. proud

3. elated

4. relieved

5. To whom does Fred Hanson compare his family?

Answers:

1. b

2. a

3. d

4. a

5. Hanson compares himself and his family to French civilians fleeing the Nazis.

Critical Thinking Question:

1. Compare and contrast Amanda Mallard with Ruby Oliver as female figures. Make references to the text to help illustrate each woman and support your observations.

GUIDE TO chapter 9

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- prudent

- litters (n.)

- surmise

- harangue

- coup

- fuselage

- morale

- presumptuous

- behoove

- masquerading

- inconspicuous

- sabotage

- turn turtle

- confidante

- pillbox

- quartermaster

- forestall

- the Fourth Army

- impunity

Supportive media

- maps illustrating Prince William Sound and Valdez and Fairbanks, Alaska

- image of a Gestapo officer and concise description of the German secret police

- image of 1937 Ford station wagon

- images of M3 Stuart light tanks, and Panzer III and IV tanks

- a map illustrating the British campaign in North Africa

Chapter 9 Summary:

- [127-30] Ruby Oliver considers the fate of three American planes downed in the Anchorage bombardment as she and her group of soldiers approach one of the planes crashed and burning in woods outside Anchorage and surrounded by civilians. The plane’s two injured crewmen are prepared to be transported, and Oliver and others observe in the distance American prisoners being brutalized and executed by Japanese soldiers. Oliver voices her plans to report the executions to the American military by radio and travel inland to Fairbanks.

- [130-34] Returned by air to San Diego, Lieutenant Dane is informed by Merchant that a press release has exposed the Anchorage mission, its pilots made heroes. In a meeting with officers, Dane informs Admiral Nimitz of the negligible success of the bombing raid, as well as its American losses. While Admiral Spruance doubts the effectiveness of the mission, Admiral Nimitz comments that the mission has improved American morale. Dane, however, discourages another raid to Nimitz, who is persuaded. Upon leaving the meeting, Dane is handed a letter from Mallard, which informs of her well-being and of her intent to head to San Diego with Sandy and Grace.

- [134-39] Set on sabotage, Wilhelm Braun contacts German Embassy aide Gunther Krause, a lower-ranking officer who meets Braun in San Diego. The men agree to remain inconspicuous, and Braun fabricates a story for Krause. The men rent an apartment and purchase a car, both disguised with the image of an engineering company. Once settled, Braun and Krause install explosives over a rail line east of San Diego and from a vantage point watch as a train is blown off its tracks, its cars exploding in a chain reaction. Braun and Krause leave the crash site.

- [139-42] A highly valued confidante to President Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins works with Admiral Nimitz and General DeWitt to form a truce between the American Army and Navy in an effort to harmonize war goals. Hopkins argues that Japan will not invade the American west coast, and that the nation’s military should be put to use in a North African campaign against Nazi forces. Hopkins reassures DeWitt that many troops will still be stationed along the coast, and that the Panama Canal will be shortly restored. Meanwhile, Hopkins informs that the Saratoga, whose whereabouts are unknown to the confidante and officers, lacks cruisers and destroyers to defend it.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What is ironic about the press release concerning Lieutenant Dane’s Anchorage bombardment?

1. The bombardment was a failure.

2. The press release was inaccurate.

3. The result of the mission is yet unknown.

4. Not many civilians were aware of the press release.

2. What is NOT a similarity between Wilhelm Braun and Japanese soldiers?

1. They both are willing to sacrifice themselves for their country.

2. They are both interested in the outcome of each other’s war.

3. They both take pleasure in killing.

4. They both have a respect for one another’s culture.

3. What disappoints Braun concerning his train rail explosion?

1. There were no crewmen aboard the crashed train cars.

2. The explosion was not as powerful as he expected.

3. Emergency vehicles arrived quickly to the site.

4. The train did not appear to be carrying war supplies.

4. What is the core difference between General DeWitt’s and confidante Hopkins’ points of view?

5. Why does confidante Hopkins believe that neutral Spain might side with Germany?

6. What sacrifice is Hopkins willing to make in turn for sending troops to North Africa?

Answers:

1. c

2. d

3. a

4. While Hopkins wants to utilize American troops for a European front against the Nazis, DeWitt feels that troops are needed to defend the mainland from a Japanese attack and to monitor the inland influx of coastal refugees.

5. Hitler expects Spain to repay a debt to Germany for supporting Franco during Spain’s civil war.

6. Hopkins accepts that small towns along the Pacific Coast will continue to be bombarded by Japanese missiles.

Critical Thinking Question/Short Essay Prompt:

1. You might have heard the famous phrase, “You’ve gotta scramble some eggs to make an omelet.” The notion of collateral damage, or the sacrificing of parts to achieve a whole, has become a motif by this point in Rising Sun. Remember that Lieutenant Dane wonders about Americans that perished in his raid on Anchorage, and that confidante Hopkins permits that cities along America’s Pacific coast continue to be bombarded by Japanese forces. Do you think that collateral damage is ever justified in warfare? Where would you draw the line in terms of deciding whether or not to sacrifice a person or groups of people? Justify your reasoning, supporting your ideas with events from Rising Sun.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Have students research actual German saboteurs that orchestrated attacks against America during World War II. Students may study where and how these saboteurs entered the U.S. mainland, what kinds of disruptions they planned, and which attacks they executed. Expect students to make connections to present-day terrorism in terms of sleeper-cells and the controversy over America’s porous border with Mexico. Theatrically-inclined students may create a monologue in which they perform their presentation as the saboteur, and students may perform as pairs in light of the Braun-Krause partnership. Possible websites for research of WWII saboteurs include:

- An analysis of German saboteur infiltrations during WWII in Florida and New York can be found at http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-german-saboteurs-invade-america-in-1942.htm.

- An editorial about Operation Pastorius, a failed German-led sabotage attempt against the United states, can be found at http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/operation-pastorius-hitler-s-unfulfilled-dream-of-a-new-york-in-flames-a-716753.html.

GUIDE TO chapter 10

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- incongruous

- ergo

- nondescript

- calamity

- ordnance

- stern (n.)

- periscope wake

- XO

- port flank

- materiel

- hostile

- benign

- obsolescent

- craggy

- mundane

- hurrah

- salvo

- superstructure

- forward turrets

- succumb

- consensus

- scuttled (ship)

Supportive media

- image of a Salmon-class submarine

- concise description of the navy’s Bureau of Ordnance

- map illustrating Yakutat Bay, Alaska, including images of Mount Hood and Hubbard

- image of Japanese Type 43 “Oscar” plane

- image of a WWII-era heavy cruiser

- images of WWII-era American and Japanese destroyer

Chapter 10 Summary:

- [143-45] Dane surveys the ruins of Braun’s freight train attack and is accompanied by FBI agent Harris, who shows Dane the charge site. Harris talks of heightening security near train lines with Army and Navy, and both men discuss the possible methods, co-conspirators, and the future actions of the saboteur(s). Dane worries about Mallard’s safety as she travels to San Diego.

- [145-48] In his new submarine the U.S.S. Shark, Lieutenant Commander Torelli patrols the Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Alaska without the aid of radar in foggy weather. Torelli’s XO spies Japanese cruisers and destroyers escorting transport ships toward Anchorage, and Torelli decides to surface and message his superiors with a hope of attacking the fleet later. In response to his message, Torelli is ordered to maintain his observance, wondering if an attack is being planned.

- [148-51] Aboard battleship Colorado and accompanied by battleship Mississippi, Lieutenant Dane and Lieutenant Commander Mickey Greene join Admiral Jesse Oldendorf on a coastline journey toward Alaska, where, aided by radar as they lead a naval fleet, they hope to find Japanese ships making a supply run to Anchorage. Assigned to interpret Japanese radio messages, Dane meanwhile discusses with Greene the obsolescence of their mission’s battleships.

- [151-55] Receiving reports that the Japanese are unloading disassembled planes into Anchorage, Oldendorf plans an early morning raid on the Japanese ships. With a shift in tone in Japanese radio messages, Dane’s crew realizes that the Japanese have spotted American ships off of Alaska, and the Colorado initiates its attack upon four Japanese cruisers, while American destroyers target Japanese destroyers, one of which escapes toward the end of Cook Inlet. The Colorado takes a nonfatal torpedo hit, but it is soon reported that all four Japanese cruisers have been destroyed. Oldendorf shifts his attack upon Japanese destroyers, transports, offloaded supplies, and shore installations. Dane convinces Oldendorf to send out lifeboats for civilian prisoners at Anchorage.

- [155-56] Several miles from the fighting, Torelli observes the escaped Japanese destroyer heading toward him. Still submerged in the Shark, Torelli obliterates the destroyer with an onslaught of torpedoes.

GUIDE TO chapter 11

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- exultant

- sparse

- unscathed

- jurisdiction

- consummate

- unmolested

- Yank

- skirmish

- immolate

- doctrine

- climactic

Supportive media

- 1938 Buick car

- Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” bomber plane

- image or physical copy of WWII-era National Geographic

- map illustrating Mare Island

Chapter 11 Summary:

- [157-59] In a San Francisco jubilant over the recent American victory at Anchorage, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace head to a law office to inquire over Mack’s will. The women are informed by lawyer Richard Goldman of complications with verifying the will’s authenticity, but sign a hopeful contract with Goldman. Upon leaving the office, air-raid sirens scream as Japanese planes scour the skies.

- [160-62] Zero pilot Masao Ikeda soars into San Francisco from the south accompanied by a large fleet of Zeros and bombers, all heading to Mare Island’s naval base. After shooting down several American planes as bombers attack San Francisco, Ikeda, unsure of his raid’s success but thrilled with his kills, is ordered to retreat.

- [162-63] After hiding from the Japanese bombing and offering unneeded assistance at a hospital, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace continue onward to San Diego.

- [163-64] Ikeda lands on his carrier to eat and refuel and then returns to the skies to battle American planes which successfully strike two of four Japanese carriers. As American planes retreat, Ikeda is dubious over the success of the San Francisco raid which failed to attack Mare Island. Ikeda lands on an undamaged carrier and worries over a lack of returning pilots

- [164-67] Aboard the Yamato, Admiral Yamamoto orders a senior admiral to send a carrier to supplement those damaged at San Francisco. Yamamoto decides to revert to using cruisers and destroyers to bombard the California coast. Yamamoto hopes for a decisive battle against America, but worries over Japan’s recent losses in terms of planes and pilots. Yamamoto also accepts that the Japanese in Alaska, who are heading to Fairbanks, are doomed in light of probable American retaliation. Yamamoto emphasizes the importance of finding and destroying America’s one remaining carrier, the Saratoga.

GUIDE TO chapter 12

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- prerogative

- dawdle

- bivouac (v.)

- basic and OCS

- monastic

- demolitions

- ordnance

- belligerent

- triangulate

- disparity

- ferret

- façade

- cohort

- imperative

- euchre

- commiserate

- contravention

- tacit

Supportive media

- images of mid-century dynamite sticks

- images/film clips of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment

- concise description and images of the Bataan Death March

- image of DC-3 plane

Chapter 12 Summary:

- [169-73] His platoon ordered to patrol train lines in the wake of several sabotage incidents including Braun’s, Lieutenant Farris decides to patrol alongside his troops, allowing a Sergeant Adamski to take the lead. Taking the tail end of his patrol, Farris thinks about his future beyond the military. Suddenly Adamski alerts Farris to a device over a section of train rail. Sending men ahead to warn an oncoming train while failing to get a response from a drunken Captain Lytle, with a number given to him by Dane, Farris contacts FBI agent Harris, who guarantees stopping the train. Harris soon arrives ahead of Lieutenant Dane and army trucks unloading demolitions experts. Harris confirms several suspicious sighting of automobiles. As the demolitions squad give an all clear, more FBI agents arrive who interview soldiers and explain to Farris and Dane that the explosives are untraceable.

- [173-75] Reassigned to locate the naval squadron that includes the American carrier Saratoga, Wilhelm Braun and Gunther Krause ponder their chances of returning to Germany. Feeling that aiding the Japanese has evolved into a futile venture, Krause suggests to Braun that they hide and avoid using their shortwave radio. Agreeing that their new mission is pointless, Braun and Krause decide to keep sending reports to the Reich and continue to look for opportunities to commit sabotage.

- [175-77] In Fairbanks, Ruby Oliver’s accompanying soldiers are reassembled into Commander James Gavin’s infantry regiment who recently parachuted into the city, and Oliver joins a volunteer group led by hunter and trapper Bear Foley, with whom Oliver becomes intimate. Aware of the Japanese’s approach, Gavin prepares an airstrip which begins to receive men, food, and fuel. Foley informs Oliver that the approaching Japanese are starving and likely to execute a suicide attack.

- [177-80] In California, Sergeant Stecher makes a beer run to Bridger, lamenting the recent loss of his brother in a Japanese plane attack. Stecher enters Sullivan’s unpeopled store. Hearing moans, Stecher makes his way to a back room where he finds two Japanese women gagged and bound on the floor, the older woman beaten. After giving the women water, Stecher turns to find Sullivan pointing a rifle at him. In Japanese, the older woman tells Sullivan that Stecher was freeing them and is not a threat. Sullivan frees the women, who Stecher realizes are Sullivan’s wife and daughter. Stecher does not see the value in turning Sullivan’s family in to be interned.

- [180-83] Nimitz, Dane, Merchant, and Spruance all view photos and films sent from Alaska of Japanese brutality against Americans. Dane returns to his desk and considers Japanese radio transmissions he was given to gauge civilian state of mind in Tokyo. Dane is suddenly approached by a seaman who informs Dane of civilians asking for him outside. In a lobby Dane is greeted by a jocular Sandy and Grace, realizing that Mallard is present with them. Dane runs outside to embrace Mallard.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions for Chapters 10, 11, and 12:

1. Which literary devices are being used in the following excerpt? (Ch. 10)

Dane had to walk past a locomotive that lay on its side like some mortally wounded animal, an iron whale that had washed up on an unfriendly shore.

1. personification

2. metaphor

3. simile

4. all of the above

2. What is unclear to the U.S. Navy concerning the Japanese navy? (Ch. 10)

1. the accuracy of Japanese torpedoes

2. whether or not the Japanese have radar

3. the number of active subs the Japanese have in the Pacific

4. if Japanese ships were patrolling the Pacific coast

3. What tactic does Admiral Oldendorf use to keep his battleships inconspicuous? (Ch. 10)

1. he relies on radar to avoid enemy ships

2. he constantly changes the direction of his ships

3. he orders his ships to travel against the coastline

4. he orders his ships to travel far from the coastline

4. All of these events make Lieutenant Dane a dynamic character EXCEPT: (Ch. 10)

1. Dane feels a degree of guilt over killing Japanese soldiers.

2. Dane wants to rescue civilian prisoners on Anchorage.

3. Dane worries about the safety of Mallard.

4. Dane is blown back by the force of Colorado’s guns.

5. How do Japanese planes avoid radar as they enter San Francisco? (Ch. 11)

1. They fly at a very low altitude.

2. They fly at a very high altitude.

3. They constantly swerve and dip.

4. They travel at an extremely fast pace.

6. What PRIMARILY motivates Masao Ikeda in his San Francisco raid? (Ch. 11)

1. His anger over the Anchorage raid

2. His desire to be viewed by fellow soldiers as a Japanese warrior

3. His desire to one day visit a conquered San Francisco

4. His joy for killing Americans

7. What decision does Admiral Yamamoto make in response to the Japanese defeat at Anchorage and the damaged carriers off the San Francisco coast? (Ch. 11)

8. According to Admiral Yamamoto, what is the main reason that the Japanese must change its strategies concerning achieving “climactic battle”? (Ch. 11)

9. All are disadvantages caused by Braun’s failed train line explosion EXCEPT: (Ch. 12)

1. Train schedules are disrupted.

2. People will hear of the sabotage attempt and hesitate before traveling.

3. All train routes on the Pacific coast are canceled for security.

4. Such sabotage attempts disrupt the American war effort.

10. What object do Braun and Krause agree to use sparingly in order to avoid suspicion? (Ch. 12)

1. a shortwave radio

2. their false identification

3. their American vehicle

4. any telephone

11. What does Captain Merchant wish to do in order to inspire further American animosity against the Japanese? (Ch. 12)

12. What propaganda does Lieutenant Dane realize is being used by the Japanese? (Ch. 12)

Answers:

1. d

2. b

3. c

4. d

5. a

6. b

7. The Japanese will no longer attack large American cities or challenge American air fleets, and Japanese carriers will no longer be used to attack American fleets.

8. The Americans are neither willing to negotiate for peace nor fight a “great battle” with the Japanese.

9. c

10. a

11. Merchant wishes to publish photos of Japanese brutality against Americans in Anchorage.

12. Dane observes that Japanese propagandists are portraying the Japanese defeat at Anchorage as a victory.

GUIDE TO chapter 13

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- dysentery

- salve

- convalesce

- Quonset hut

- Barracks

- dummy rounds

- sentry

- pulverize

- pinprick raid

- recrimination

- shepherd (v.)

- dummy convoy

- sheepish

- terse

- lush (n.)

- A Company

- embankment

- ghastly

- siphon

Supportive media

- map illustrating Hilo Bay, Hawaii

- image of 81mm mortars

- image of a Purple Heart medal

Chapter 13 Summary:

- [185-88] On a park bench outside Dane’s base, Mallard describes to Dane her journey from Hawaii, and Dane informs Mallard that he was part of the Anchorage raid. Dane also informs Mallard that the Japanese have set up a base at Hilo Bay. Dane and Mallard decide to take their romance slow. They witness Merchant, recently left by his wife, hitting on Grace.

- [188-91] Walking the perimeter of his platoon in the night, Lieutenant Farris suddenly witnesses explosions near and then on Captain Lytle’s headquarters. Stecher joins Farris, both of whom identify the source of firing coming from a submarine. Farris orders his platoon to shoot mortars at the sub, which fall short as the sub continues to fire upon the base. With a sandbag Farris adjusts the angle of the mortar, one of whose shells strikes the sub’s conning tower. The sub begins to retreat without submerging, and American planes arrive to continue striking the sub until a bomb fatally turns the sub on her side. Dane takes a jeep to Lytle’s beach headquarters, where he witnesses much carnage and is informed of Lytle’s death. Farris is elevated to Senior Lieutenant.

- [191-93] American civilians flee inland as Japanese attacks upon coastal Californian towns and bases ensue. Dane is informed of Farris’ survival and rise in rank, and he considers an invitation to visit Farris on the coast with Mallard and another woman for Farris.

- [193-94] While reveling in the Japanese coastal attacks, Wilhelm Braun and Gunther Krause are unsure as how to proceed in sabotage efforts against the United States. After considering various alternatives, the men decide to attempt another rail line attack.

- [194-96] Senior Lieutenant Farris and fellow commanders are informed by Major George Baylor that battalions will soon be heading north in several weeks to defend civilian volunteers and construction troops in Fairbanks from a Japanese attack. Baylor compliments Farris on his handling of events near Bridger and raises Farris’ rank to First Lieutenant in order to lead an A Company. Farris’ request that Sergeant Stecher be assigned as his First Sergeant is granted.

- [196-98] Braun keeps watch as Krause lays explosives along train lines near Riverside, California. A quickly speeding train sets off the detonator, and though its locomotive remains on the rails, its cars are blown down an embankment, killing and injuring many passengers. Upon returning to their car, Braun and Krause encounter three Mexican men attempting to steal their car’s tires and siphon its gas. Though the Germans point their weapons and identify themselves as police, Braun realizes that extra sticks of dynamite are visible in the pried open trunk. The Germans force the Mexicans onto the ground, and Braun executes all three men.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What realization just Mallard have about times during war?

1. People act inhumanely during war.

2. War brings out both the best and worst in people.

3. It is difficult to judge what decisions are right and wrong during war.

4. War should be avoided at all costs.

2. List at least three acts of sabotage that Braun and Krause consider performing?

3. What is the primary reason that Braun and Krause decide to continue striking train lines?

4. What does Braun and Krause believe will confuse the FBI at the site of their latest train attack?

Answers:

1. c

2. Braun and Krause consider infiltrating a defense plant, assassinating prominent Americans and somewhat prominent civilians, robbery, and committing random acts of violence with what resources remained to them.

3. Americans are more concerned with outward than inward attacks on the mainland.

4. Braun and Krause believe that the presence of three dead Mexicans whom Braun killed will confuse the FBI.

Suggested Activity/Research-Based Exploration: Explain that while the cast of Rising Sun does not include any major African American characters, African Americans served in WWII on the frontlines of battle as well as on the domestic front. Draw attention to the “Negro construction troops” working on a road to Alaska and ask your students to consider how vital such troops are in the context of the novel. Have your students imagine that they have been asked by Robert Conroy to conceive of a major African American character for Rising Sun. After researching the various roles African Americans played in WWII, students should create a comprehensive character sketch that includes background information, occupation (military or civilian), key personality traits, relationships, fate, and a description of his or her role in at least one of Rising Sun’s major plot events. Students who are inclined may write a scene for Rising Sun which incorporates their character. Recommended websites include:

- The Voice of America website at http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-2005-05-10-voa47-67929177/396374.html

- The National Geographic website at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html

- The Naval History and Heritage website at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/af-amer/afa-wwii.htm

GUIDE TO chapter 14

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- caricature

- modus operandi

- billy club

- retraction

- imperialist

- sake

- inanimate steel

- abortive

- complement

- aghast

- kraut

- knoll

- dispirited

- tableau

- swastika

- carte blanche

- asylum

- repatriate

- systematic

- indiscriminate

- assimilated

- Gestapo

- quid pro quo

- replicate

- jovial

- celibate

- Focus activity/initiating question: Measure your students’ knowledge of concentration and labor camps and explore with them the history of such camps prior to and following WWII. Students might be surprised to know that similar camps existed in Cambodia in the 1970s, as well as in North Korea today. Lead a discussion on the implications of Japanese internment camps in America. Guide your students with the following question: “Are all humans at some point capable of committing atrocities against their fellows?”

Supportive media:

- image of a 1940s-era zoot suit

- short clip from John Wayne’s Stagecoach

- images of Tokyo volcano Mauna Loa and Japan’s Mount Fuji

- image of 1898 German Mauser rifle

- image of Japanese Type 95 light tanks

Chapter 14 Summary:

- [199-02] Leaving a restaurant, Dane and Mallard confront a nearly hundred-man brawl between sailors and Mexicans. Dane readies a personal revolver and inquires the cause of the brawl from a sailor, who claims that the Mexicans were celebrating the death of Americans in the recent train attacks. Before police arrive, Dane defends himself and Mallard from an approaching drunken Mexican.

- [202-06] His squadron reassigned to the carrier Kaga, Masao Ikeda enjoys shore leave at Hilo Bay, Hawaii with his friend Toki, who is a communications expert aboard Kaga. Against Ikeda’s appreciation of Hawaii’s beauty and pride at being elevated into an elite military status, Toki enumerates many reasons as to why Japan is now disadvantaged against the Americans. Toki also refers to the sexual noncompliance of Hawaiian prostitutes and other female civilians to Japanese men to illustrate American hatred toward the Japanese.

- [206-09] Near Fairbanks, Bear Foley lies camouflaged upon a forest floor as he stalks Japanese soldiers who appear weak, unskilled and poorly equipped. Annoyed with the abuse a Japanese officer plays upon his soldiers, Foley executes the officer by rifle in sniper fashion. Foley retreats by motorcycle with the intent of informing Commander Gavin of the Japanese approach into Fairbanks.

- [209-14] Lieutenant Dane and Agent Harris interrogate German Johann Klaas, former accountant for the German embassy in Mexico City, who seeks asylum in America. Claiming to detest Nazi tactics and their war against Slavs and Jews, Klaas laments his son’s recent death as a German officer and expresses his desire to reconnect with a daughter in Brazil. In hopeful exchange for asylum, Klaas offers the identity of Wilhelm Braun, describing Braun’s tactics and goals, in addition to Braun’s latest goal of deciphering the location of carrier Saratoga. Klaas reveals a photograph of Braun and his former crew and explains Braun’s radio frequencies and schedules. Harris agrees to grant Klaas asylum on the basis that Klaas help in the search for Braun in San Diego and aid in deciphering Braun’s communications.

- [214-16] Mallard, Sandy, and Grace visit Zuckerman over Mack’s will. Before meeting Zuckerman, one of his clients, identified by Zuckerman’s secretary as a disgruntled anti-Semitic foreigner, angrily stares down the women. Zuckerman informs the women of terms concerning percentages withheld, and that Mack’s death will be ruled accidental. The women are eager to discover the contents within Mack’s safety deposit box.

- [216-17] Braun arrives to his and Krause’s headquarters with a Mexican prostitute and they spend the night with her. Early in the morning, Krause realizes that instead of returning the woman home, Braun had killed her. Braun explains that the woman was a security threat.

- [218-19] A San Diego detective allows Harris to view the body of the Mexican prostitute, and Harris suspects that her killer is the saboteur attacking trains. At Dane’s San Diego base, Harris confirms that the bullets from the prostitute’s murder are identical to those of the Mexican men at the site of the most recent train line explosion.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What is the cause of a street brawl between sailors and Mexicans?

2. List at least five new disadvantages to Japan, according to Masao Ikeda’s friend Toki.

3. What pair of adjectives describes Toki’s new perspective on the Japanese military?

1. restrained and realistic

2. dishonest and unreserved

3. modest and cautious

4. ambitious and determined

4. What disappoints Bear Foley concerning Japanese soldiers?

5. What makes Johann Klaas especially vulnerable in his home country of Germany?

Answers:

1. Zoot suiting Mexicans brag of American deaths in the recent train attacks, which have been rumored to have been committed by Mexicans.

2. 1) America is in the process of building many new carriers while several Japanese carriers are damaged and only two are under construction 2) Japanese replacement pilots are under-experienced 3) America is turning out many pilots as Japan struggles to replace its own 4) American fighter planes are improving beyond Japanese Zeros 5) The damaged section of the Panama Canal has been rebuilt 6) The Japanese troops heading to Fairbanks, Alaska are starving and poorly equipped 7) The Americans have sunk many Japanese supply ships, warships and transports intended to support the Japanese army.

3. b

4. Foley is disappointed by the poor performance of Japanese soldiers in the Alaskan forests.

5. Klaas’ is Jewish through maternal blood.

GUIDE TO chapter 15

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- scandalize

- lark

- salacious

- NCO

- understrength company

- toadying

- Cossack

- antiaircraft battery

- hitherto

- dire straits

- foray

- disreputable

- nobility

- egalitarian

- verbiage

- profligate

- engrossed

- fixated

- court-martial

- brig

- culvert

Supportive media

- images of WWII-era Cossacks

- images of small and large carriers for size comparison

Chapter 15 Summary:

- [221-24] A day before Farris is to head north to help defend Fairbanks, Dane and Mallard relax on a beach off San Diego Bay with Merchant, Farris, Sandy, and Grace. Before wading into the ocean to become intimate, Mallard shares with Dane her desire to become a doctor, as well as an experience in which she was betrayed by a former lover.

- [224-27] Farris nostalgically views his days beach patrolling as he is assigned well-trained troops which he leads with Major Baylor to Alaska over the hastily plowed and dangerously embanked “highway”. Farris is informed that the Japanese are within fifty miles of Fairbanks. Ten miles out of Fairbanks, Farris’ trucks are forced to stop at a cessation of road and they march ten miles into camp. Colonel Gavin, with whom Farris is impressed, greets Farris’ incoming soldiers.

- [227-29] As the Kaga heads to Alaska, Masao Ikeda stands upon its flight deck and laments to Toki the performance of new Japanese pilots. Toki admits to Ikeda that the mission to support Japanese troops in Fairbanks is merely purposed to slightly prolong the survival of its stationed troops in order to further dwindle American troops. Ikeda and Toki philosophize over the parameters of honorable death in terms of Bushido code. Toki informs Ikeda that the Japanese carrier Akagi has been sunk in Tokyo Bay, and he compares the likelihood of winning a victory in Alaska to the Japanese winning a victory in China. Toki admits that he would rather surrender than die without reason. Ikeda is newly inspired to achieve a Japanese victory.

- [229-31] Johann Klaas listens to messages sent between Wilhelm Braun and his superiors, inferring that Braun and Krause will not receive any more money until Braun fulfills a contract suspected to be the locating of Saratoga.

- [231-33] Braun and Krause rob one in a string of groups of gambling sailors, using the sailors’ illegal actions as liability against reporting the incidents.

- [233-34] Perplexed over a failure of sighting enemy forces, Farris and Stecher watch as their Fairbank’s camp is quickly raided by Japanese planes. Stecher leads Farris to a crashed Japanese Zero plane where they view the charred remains of its pilot.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What foreign phrase exemplifies Steve Farris’ newfound philosophy on life toward the beginning of chapter 15?

1. caveat emptor

2. mea culpa

3. carpe diem

4. schadenfreude

2. According to Toki, why has Admiral Yamamoto been assigned to send his navy to Alaska.

3. What adjective best represents Ikeda’s and Toki’s attitude toward their Alaska mission?

1. pessimistic

2. optimistic

3. overconfident

4. petrified

4. Why does Johann Klaas reinstate the usage of “von” in front of his last name?

1. to make his Germanic heritage more evident while living in America

2. to proudly exhibit his minor nobility

3. to make a statement of his individuality against the common German

4. to present a façade of devotion to the Third Reich

5. Why does Johann Klaas claim that Wilhelm Braun and Gunther Krause are “hiding in plain sight”?

6. What emotional change has taken place within Farris by the end of Chapter 15?

Answers:

1. c

2. There is pressure upon Yamamoto to end the war by winning a great victory in Alaska for Japan

3. a

4. c

5. Braun’s messages are in English and are not coded.

6. When taken by Stecher to view the burning remains of a Japanese Zero pilot, Farris feels no sympathy for the pilot. Therefore, in the eyes of Farris, Japanese soldiers are losing their humanity.

Critical Thinking/Short Essay Question:

1. How does Conroy humanize the Japanese people through the character of fighter pilot Masao Ikeda? Consider in your response Ikeda’s thoughts, desires, and insecurities up until this point in Rising Sun.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration: By Chapter 15 of Rising Sun, nurse Amanda Mallard has defied many cultural expectations concerning the capabilities and behavior of mid-20th-century American women. Explain to your students that even to this day, a great segment of Americans maintain a “rose colored glasses” perspective on the American woman and American lifestyle during the 1940s and 1950s. Divide your class into small groups. Assign one portion of groups to research an unrealistic and mythical caricature of America and American women during the 40s and 50s. Have the other portion of groups research a realistic depiction of the subjects. Student groups can create multimedia presentations depicting their focuses. Recommended websites for research include:

- Websites dedicated to the female icon Rosie the Riveter can be found at http://www.rosietheriveter.org/ and http://www.rosietheriveter.net/. An article concerning the woman who inspired the representation of Rosie, as well as an informative video about the icon, can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/30/rosie-riveter-dead-geraldine-hoff-doyle_n_802772.html.

- The National Women’s History Museum website at http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/partners/exhibitentrance.html

- An examination of the authenticity of a possible lesson from a 1950s home economics textbook on how to be a proper housewife can be found at http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp.

- An exploration of female stereotypes during the 1950s can be found at http://americanmemoryofthe1950shousewif.bgsu.wikispaces.net/Stereotypes.

- A chronology of influential American women in the 1940s and ‘50s can be found at http://capone.mtsu.edu/kmiddlet/history/women/time/wh-1940s.html and http://capone.mtsu.edu/kmiddlet/history/women/time/wh-50s.html

GUIDE TO chapter 16

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- decrepit

- swabbies

- jarhead

- nonplussed

- cahoots

- light duty

- chagrined

- meager

- foxhole

- falsetto

- understrength/overstrength squad

- augmented

- macabre

- carbine

- BAR

- slacken

- feral

- jubilant

- USO

- kimono

Supportive media

- image of a P47 fighter plane, carbine rifle, Browning automatic rifle, Arisaka rifle

- map detailing the North African campaign in WWII

- images/film/testimonies concerning the Auschwitz concentration camp

- background of novel/film clips from “All Quiet on the Western Front” (emphasize German point of view)

- images and film clips from modern USO performances

Chapter 16 Summary:

- [235-38] The marine who stood guard for the card game robbed by Braun and Krause informs FBI Agent Harris the details of the robbery, and that the robbers spoke in German. Dane and Merchant arrive and the marine identifies Krause in a photograph. Harris warns the marine against sharing information concerning the Germans. Dane suggests to Harris that the FBI delay taking down Braun and his fellow saboteurs.

- [239-42] Assisted by volunteers including Bear Foley, Farris and his company patrol the area of Fairbanks as their base is sparingly resupplied with planes and troops. The patrol starts to follow Japanese soldier footprints discovered by a scout. Just as Foley realizes that his patrol is in sight of a Japanese squad, the squad begins to fire upon the Americans before the Americans fire back heavily and throw grenades. Foley joins Farris and a group of soldiers in approaching the direction of the Japanese squad, which has grown silent. Finding a mostly slaughtered Japanese squad, the Americans execute survivors and take note of a sergeant who committed suicide. Farris and Foley worry about the actions of a weak and desperate Japanese army.

- [242-44] As the U.S. Army begins a North African campaign, Dane, Mallard, Merchant, and Grace attend a USO performance. Dane shows Mallard photos of the German saboteurs, and a shocked Mallard admits to recognizing Braun.

GUIDE TO chapter 17

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- disconsolate

- deviation

- liaison

- vaunt

- implacable

- bayonet

- bunker

- adjacent

- comingle

- sporadic

Supportive media

- image of .30-caliber Browning machine gun

- image of Type 95 light tank driver’s hatch

- image of a 105mm pack howitzer gun

Chapter 17 Summary:

- [245-47] Dane, Mallard, Sandy, and Grace meet with Agent Harris at Dane’s base. Grace realizes that the familiar German was the hostile foreigner who stared down herself and her companions at Zuckerman’s office. The following day, Harris and Dane visit Zuckerman’s office to inform Zuckerman of Braun’s actual identity. A devastated Zuckerman provides Braun’s mainland address to Harris and Dane.

- [247-49] Braun and Krause observe unmarked vehicles outside of their residence and plan to flee. Braun is simultaneously aware of his failures as a saboteur and the likely defeat of the Third Reich. The saboteurs decide to split their money and go their separate ways, but Krause, aware of Braun’s dishonestly splitting the money, suspects Braun of secret plans.

- [249-50] Aided by Sullivan’s Japanese daughter and an ensign, both assigned for their knowledge of the Japanese language, Lieutenant Dane works on base in San Diego. Dane receives a call from saboteur Krause, who asks Dane for immunity from his crimes in exchange for information concerning Braun’s plans.

- [250-52] Suspecting Zuckerman of possibly revealing his identity, Braun enters Zuckerman’s office in hopes of killing Zuckerman. Instead, Braun is greeted by Harris and other agents. Braun fires his drawn pistol and receives deadly retaliation from the agents. Before dying, Braun voices his devotion to Hitler.

- [252-58] In the woods near Fairbanks, Farris and his platoon fight an onrushing Japanese army. The Americans begin throwing grenades when two Japanese tanks arrive, and Stecher approaches a tank to drop a grenade into its driver’s hatch. The battlefield reaches a chaos of hand-to-hand combat, and Farris is knocked unconscious as he is covered with bodies in a trench. Meanwhile, Commander Gavin’s second defense line fires at oncoming Japanese soldiers, scattered with retreating American soldiers, until the battlefield clears of fighting. Surveying Japanese and American carnage, Gavin discovers the moving arm of a barely conscious Farris buried beneath a horde of bodies.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions for Chapters 16 and 17:

1. What two characteristics of the Alaskan Volunteers does Lieutenant Farris admire?

2. What crucial error does Farris realize concerning the Japanese and their sudden air-raid on Fairbanks?

3. Why does Bear Foley demand that a soldier put out his cigarette as his troops patrol woods around Fairbanks?

1. The soldier would have thrown his cigarette on the ground, leaving a trace of his platoon’s location

2. The lighting of the cigarette is noticeable from afar.

3. It is disrespectful to smoke while on patrol.

4. The smoke from the cigarette can be smelled from a great distance in the woods.

4. Based on the context of Bob Hope’s messages to his audience, what is the ultimate goal of a USO performer?

5. What is happening to many of Zuckerman’s relatives in Austria?

6. What literary device is Captain Merchant employing when he says, “All is quiet on the Pacific Front”?

7. What brave deed does Sergeant Stecher commit in the woods near Fairbanks?

8. What horrifies Commander Gavin about the Japanese army’s behavior in the woods near Fairbanks?

Answers:

1. The Alaskan Volunteers made their own winter gear from bed sheets, and they have superior tracking skills.

2. The Japanese could have orchestrated a victory if they coupled their air-raid with an infantry attack.

3. d

4. USO performers intended to relieve American troops from the stresses of service by entertaining them, empathizing with them, and reinvigorating them against their enemies.

5. Zuckerman’s Austrian relatives are being sent to work camps in Poland.

6. Allusion.

7. Stecher accosts a Japanese tank, opens its driver’s hatch, and throws a grenade into the tank.

8. The Japanese army pushes forward with disregard to its own dead.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration: Lieutenant Dane sarcastically refers to Wilhelm Braun and Gunther Krause as “supermen”. Your students may be surprised to know that the term “Superman” did not originate with the comic book hero. Have your students research the origin of übermensch, the purpose behind its original usage, and how the word has evolved over time to be associated, however erroneously, with the Nazi regime. Students may exhibit their research by 1) creating a multimedia presentation outlining the evolution of the term “superman” 2) creating a multimedia presentation juxtaposing the positive and negative manifestations of the notion of “supermen” 3) writing an essay analyzing how humans continually strive and fail to attain the status of “supermen”. Recommended websites:

- A brief review of the Aryan conception of a “master race” can be found at http://historacle.org/hitlers_supermen.html

- Analytical articles on the origin, meaning, and misconceptions of Nietzsche’s übermensch can be found at http://philosophynow.org/issues/93/Nietzsches_Ubermensch_A_Hero_of_Our_Time and http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/the-ubermensch-the-superman-and-the-posthuman/

- An essay comparing Nietzsche’s philosophy of the “superman” with the Nazi’s can be found at http://socyberty.com/philosophy/nietzsche-hitler-and-the-superman/

GUIDE TO chapter 18

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- subjective

- borne

- ardor

- banal

- trifle

- divert

- bemused

- stalemate

- formidable

- disarray

- ordained

- discomfiture

- guffaw

- conciliatory

- mollify

- steward

- barge (n.)

- assembly

- torrid

- remnants

- montage

- deprivation

- anesthetic

- shaman

- noncommittal

- console

- billeted

- bungalow

- debacle

- genteel

- signatory

- expedite

- Focus question/initiating activity: Investigate with your students the details of Operation Fortitude, a military deception aimed at convincing the German forces in WWII that the allies were staging an invasion of occupied Norway and Northern France. A concise description of the operation can be found at http://www.dday-overlord.com/eng/operation_fortitude.htm. Inspire discussion with the leading question, “How is war like a game?”

Supportive media

- text/audio of Winston Churchill’s speeches “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” and “We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches”

- audio example of Morse code

- maps illustrating the Baja Peninsula and the Gulf of California

- concise description of the Geneva Convention and its demands

- image of Silver Star medal

- map illustrating German cities Luebeck, Rostock, Cologne, and Berlin

Chapter 18 Summary:

- [259-61] On base, Lieutenant Dane, informed of his nephew Farris’ injury and the defeat of Japan at Fairbanks, receives a call from Gunther Krause, who agrees to make an attempt to divert the Japanese fleet in exchange for a pardon. Krause accepts that he will be incarcerated in San Diego during the time he helps the U.S., and he surprises Dane by revealing that that he is waiting for Dane in the lobby of Dane’s base.

- [261-62] Roosevelt confidante Harry Hopkins arrives at Dane’s base after Krause sends a message to his German contacts in Mexico stating that America will be repairing carrier Saratoga in the Gulf of California.

- [262-64] Against the caution of Admirals Kurita and Nagumo, Admiral Yamamoto decides to act upon the information claiming Saratoga’s presence in the Gulf of California and perform a decisive attack. Yamamoto and his fellow admirals disagree as to the risk of such a mission.

- [264-66] While displeased with confidante Hopkins’ decision in assigning Admiral Nimitz to command an ambush against Japanese forces in the Gulf of California, General DeWitt accedes to follow any directive.

- [266-67] On the Mexican coast facing the Gulf of California, Captain Merchant gathers a volunteer movie studio crews to inform them that they will be using barges to rebuild a seeming fleet of carriers, cruisers, and destroyers which will serve to lure Japanese forces.

- [267-68] Bear Foley leads his troops in killing remaining Japanese soldiers in forests near Fairbanks. Ruby Oliver decides to leave her restaurant and live with Foley.

- [268-71] Lieutenant Farris regains consciousness at a Vancouver hospital and assesses his injuries, including a wounded left eye and dysfunctional left side of his body. A doctor clarifies Farris’ injuries and verifies Farris’ mental capacity. The doctor grants Farris’ request to be sent back to San Diego. Farris reviews letters from Commander Gavin, Sandy, and Dane, and he learns of Sergeant Stecher’s death.

- [271-72] At his restricted quarters on Dane’s naval base, Gunther Krause listens to radio transmissions and realizes that America is defeating both Germany and Japan. Krause and Dane debate the ethics of violent acts during wartime. Krause recommends doubling the stakes on Admiral Yamamoto in terms of the Saratoga bluff in the Gulf of California.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What idiom BEST illustrates Lieutenant Dane’s attitude concerning Gunther Krause’s pending government pardon?

1. roll with the punches

2. choose the lesser evil

3. add insult to injury

4. pot calling the kettle black

2. What phrase BEST illustrates Dane’s newfound opinion about Braun and Krause after observing their apartment?

1. methodical order

2. intimidating preparation

3. unglamorous reality

4. surprisingly relatable

3. How does Krause attempt to divert the Japanese fleet?

4. What most worries General DeWitt about the American ambush upon Japanese forces in the Gulf of California?

5. What philosophical problem does Bear Foley consider as he and American soldiers proceed to fight the last remaining Japanese troops in forests near Fairbanks?

6. What does Gunther Krause realize as he listens to radio broadcasts concerning the war?

7. What adjective BEST describes the personality of Gunther Krause at this point in Rising Sun?

1. steadfast

2. patriotic

3. obstinate

4. fickle

8. What are two ways that Krause justifies to Dane his attacks to American trains?

Answers:

1. b

2. c

3. Krause sends false messages to his German contacts in Mexico suggesting that the U.S. Navy is sending its carrier Saratoga, among other ships, to the Gulf of California to be repaired.

4. General DeWitt worries that sending most American forces to the Gulf will make much of the Pacific west coast vulnerable to other Japanese attacks.

5. Foley considers whether he would rather kill himself than suffer imprisonment by Japanese forces.

6. Krause realizes that both Germany and Japan were gradually being defeated by the Americans.

7. d

8. Krause argues that his attacks were merely acts of war, just as those are of American forces who are indiscriminately attacking trains and cities in Germany. Krause also refers Dane to U.S. Civil War general William T. Sherman’s statement that “war is hell”.

Suggested activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration: When Lieutenant Dane makes Gunther Krause aware of Krause’s breaking with the Geneva Convention by committing attacks against an enemy country out of uniform, Krause responds that the Geneva Convention is a “ridiculous document”. Have your students review the basic wartime rules laid out by the Conventions at http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/texts/doc_geneva_con.html. After reviewing the rules, have your students write a short response to the following question: “Considering the actions of the American, Japanese, and German forces in Rising Sun against their enemies, is Gunther Krause justified in claiming that the Geneva Convention is a “ridiculous document”? Why does he feel this way? Justify your answer with evidence from the novel.”

GUIDE TO chapter 19

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:tactful

- tentative

- obscene

- geisha

- facetious

- guerrilla

- vestige

- sanctuary

- phraseology

- comrades in arms

- convalesce

- dour

- circumspect

- conquistador

- cretin

- accord

- archaic

- revel

- slovenly

- fetid

- lest

- KP

Supportive media

- image of an Aichi E13A fighter plane

- image and concise bio of German Field Marshal Rommel

- map illustrating Mazatlán, Mexico

- images/film clips/concise description of the 1916 Mexican revolution

Chapter 19 Summary:

- [273-74] In a San Diego restaurant, Mallard and Grace interrogate Sandy about her future plans concerning Lieutenant Farris, who will soon arrive in San Diego. Mallard worries about the fate of Dane.

- [275-77] In his Zero plane, Masao Ikeda partakes in a successful raid against two Australian cruisers before returning to carrier Kaga. On Kaga’s flight deck, Toki informs Ikeda that Hawaiian guerillas have freed prisoners of the Japanese at Hilo. Toki also mentions that Japanese submarines are headed to blockade the Gulf of California in light of the suspected location of the Saratoga. Ikeda theorizes the best way to attack the Saratoga.

- [278] Krause aids Braun in embellishing the false messages concerning Saratoga by implying in an additional message that the Saratoga will be joined in the Gulf of California by another carrier. Krause inquires Dane about the fate of his German comrades in Mexico.

- [278-80] Before heading to San Diego, Lieutenant Farris briefly convalesces in San Francisco while working to improve function of his left arm and left eye.

- [280-82] Japanese Admiral Nagumo celebrates the false news that the Saratoga will be accompanied by another carrier in the Gulf of California. Admiral Yamamoto explains to Nagumo his plans of attack, including a diversion attack on the Pacific coast.

- [282-84] Assigned to “count and categorize” American ships in the Gulf of California, aristocratic Mexican colonel and Nazi sympathizer Juan Escobar heads via the Gulf from Mazatlan toward Mexico in a small fishing boat. Escobar sights what he believes to be warships and carriers in the distance and excitedly directs his boat captain to return to Mazatlan. Escobar sends word of his sighting to a German associate.

- [284-85] FBI Agent Harris decides to momentarily spare the life of Juan Escobar after having trailed Escobar’s movements and communications as a war traitor.

- [285-86] On Lieutenant Torelli’s submarine Shark, Torelli informs executive officer Ron Crowley of a new command to patrol an area off San Diego and to report back the expected arrival of a Japanese fleet. Torelli emphasizes that his crew has been ordered not to fire upon the fleet.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What two things bother Masao Ikeda during his raid against Australian cruisers?

2. How and why does Masao Ikeda believe that the Saratoga should be attacked?

3. What influences Admiral Yamamoto to believe the reports concerning the location of the Saratoga and another carrier?

4. How does Yamamoto plan to distract American forces while attacking Saratoga and its accompanying carrier in the Gulf of California?

5. What causes Yamamoto to worry in consideration of a possible victory in the Gulf of California?

6. Describe what disgruntles Juan Escobar.

7. What conflict involving submarine warfare reveals poor communication within the hierarchy of the navy?

Answers:

1. Ikeda is annoyed that his fellow Zero pilots are firing upon helpless lifeboats and defying the warrior code. Ikeda also regrets having to continue firing at retaliating cruiser gunners.

2. Ikeda believes that Saratoga should be attacked by planes rather than submarines because American carriers can outpace Japanese submarines.

3. Yamamoto feels that a German source gives the information credibility, and that he can verify the presence of the carriers in the Gulf of California.

4. Yamamoto plans on bombarding Los Angeles and San Diego with heavy cruisers while the supposed carriers are being attacked.

5. Yamamoto worries that Japan will be overcome with “victory disease” and continue to push his forces dangerously to the limit.

6. Escobar laments the pollution of his culture by Native Americans and the loss of authority of the Roman Catholic church in Mexico. He shares Nazi hatred of communism and wishes to one day rule Mexico in the fashion of Hitler. Escobar is therefore upset by Mexico’s declaration of war against Germany. Furthermore, Escobar desires for Mexico to retake its provinces conquered by North Americans.

7. While sub lieutenants and their crews are concerned about occasional duds among their torpedoes, higher officers lay blame for the duds on the sub crews and will not allow the crews to tamper with the torpedoes.

GUIDE TO chapter 20

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- frolicked

- caveat

- consolidate

- ONI

- war of attrition

- impassive

- Ultra intercepts

- USAAF

- barren

- leeway

- intermingle

- pliant

Supportive media

- map illustrating New Guinea

- image and concise bio of General MacArthur

- map illustrating Dutch Harbor

- map illustrating the English Channel

- image of a Wildcat plane

Chapter 20 Summary:

- [287-88] On a San Diego beach, Merchant takes pictures which will be sent to Gunther Krause’s contacts in Mexico of Mallard and Krause feigning intimacy in order to create, at Mallard’s request, the illusion that Mallard is the traitorous source in Admiral Nimitz’s navy. Observing uncomfortably, Dane beats up Krause when Krause sneakily fondles Mallard.

- [288-90] The crew upon Japanese carrier Kaga celebrate in light of an announcement confirming a raid upon American carriers in the Gulf of California. Masao and Ikeda discuss the logistics of Yamamoto’s planned raid in the Gulf, and Toki speaks of Yamamoto’s further plans to reestablish a stronghold in the war.

- [291-94] At the inquiry of Admiral Spruance and Nimitz, Dane suggests that the Japanese are planning a full onslaught to ensure a decisive victory, predicting that the Japanese will attack the decoy Gulf fleet and bombard the Californian coast as a distraction. After Dane’s departure, Spruance and Nimitz discuss the fate of San Diego and Los Angeles under Japanese bombardment and decide to transfer planes from Alaska to San Diego.

- [294-95] Young fighter pilot Lieutenant Harry “Piggy” Hogg anticipates a defense against a Japanese raid after landing at a desolate Mexico base near the Gulf of California.

- [295-97] Dane unsuccessfully implores Mallard to leave San Diego before the Japanese bombardment. Dane informs Mallard that he will soon be sent to the Gulf of California.

- [297-98] Aboard the Shark, XO Crowley shows Lieutenant Torelli the oft-malfunctioning guidance and detonation trigger inside a torpedo. Torelli gives Crowley permission to improve the trigger mechanism.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What adjective BEST describes the attitude of Masao Ikeda’s friend Toki concerning Yamamoto’s planned raid against the decoy fleet in the Gulf of California?

1. cynical

2. wary

3. impulsive

4. assured

2. What American idiom BEST exemplifies Masao Ikeda’s opinion of Japanese battleships?

1. armed to the teeth

2. out with the old, in with the new

3. a cut above

4. to have an edge

3. According to Toki, what are Yamamoto’s plans beyond the raid at the Gulf of California?

4. Describe Lieutenant Dane’s hypothesis concerning how the Japanese will attack the Gulf of California.

5. What ethical problem does Admiral Nimitz bring to light in relation to a suspected Japanese bombardment of Californian cities? What real-world example does Nimitz consider in order to justify his decision concerning the problem?

Answers:

1. d

2. b

3. Yamamoto will occupy Oahu, retake Alaska and the Panama Canal, and defeat U.S. General MacArthur’s forces in Australia, thus reaffirming a control of the seas.

4. Unsuspecting of retaliation from U.S. carriers, the Japanese will concentrate most of their planes against the decoy U.S. fleet in the Gulf while bombarding San Diego in order to draw U.S. fighter planes away from the U.S. carrier decoys.

5. Nimitz must accept that San Diego and Los Angeles cannot be warned until the last minute of the Japanese bombardment lest the Japanese become aware that their codes are being broken. Nimitz considers Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s decision to refrain from warning a city in England of a German bombardment.

GUIDE TO chapter 21

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- exuberant

- perverse

- stolid

- din

- slit trench

- wizardry

- tracer

- credence

Supportive media

- map illustrating Point Lomas, San Diego

- depictions of The Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War

- images/film clips of the Battle on the Somme

- image of a Japanese Aichi D3A dive bomber

- image of a Nakajima B5N torpedo bomber

- image of a Type 91 torpedo

Chapter 21 Summary:

- [299-301] At Captain Merchant’s San Diego apartment, Dane and Mallard consummate their recent marriage before Dane returns to service.

- [301-02] After permanently parting ways with Sandy, Farris returns to base to be greeted by Sullivan’s Japanese daughter Nancy. Over coffee, Nancy informs Farris of Dane’s and Mallard’s marriage, while Farris informs Nancy of Sergeant Stecher’s death. Farris finds Nancy attractive. Suddenly sirens sound.

- [302-03] Expecting to witness Juan Escobar being arrested by Mexican police, Agent Harris instead witnesses the murder, set up to look like a two-man robbery, of Juan Escobar outside Escobar’s apartment. Harris returns to his office where he learns that the Japanese are attacking California.

- [303-05] At a San Diego hospital, Mallard escorts patients to a basement as sirens blare. Upstairs, Mallard observes battle between the Japanese fleet and American anti-aircraft, noticing an absence of American planes. Mallard returns to the basement to inform its inhabitants, all of whom take cover as the hospital is bombarded. Mallard is knocked unconscious.

- [306-07] As their San Diego base is bombed, Farris and Nancy cower in a trench, pulling wounded soldiers in with them. Nancy treats wounds. A soldier fixes Farris’ dislocated after apologizing for trying to attack Nancy.

- [307-08] During the Japanese bombardment, Gunther Krause decides to escape, blending himself in with fleeing San Franciscans. Krause retrieves money, identifications, and a gun from his bank’s safety deposit box, hotwires a car, and heads east toward Kansas City.

- [308-10] Horrified by the intensity of the Japanese bombardments on San Diego and Los Angeles, Admiral Nimitz worries that Yamamoto has seen through the American decoy strategy in the Gulf. Dragged to a bunker by an aide, Nimitz is informed to his relief that the Japanese will attack the Gulf decoy.

- [310-11] Masao Ikeda joins a vast aerial armada heading to the Gulf of California. Ikeda is momentarily overcome with doubt concerning the appearance of the fleet as it comes into view, but he prepares to fight a great swarm of American fighter planes.

- [311-12] Over the Gulf, Lieutenant Hogg dogfights in a swarm of Japanese Zeros. Once clearing the swarm, Hogg continues to head westward with other fighters.

- [312-13] Torelli keeps his Shark submerged as an enormous Japanese battleship sails over it toward the coast of San Diego. Once the battleship is out of proximity, Torelli is given permission to fire upon Japanese ships, ordering XO Crowley to man Shark’s torpedoes.

Critical Thinking/Short answer questions:

1. Explain Nancy Sullivan’s reaction to Farris’ question about how she feels about Farris killing Japanese soldiers.

2. How is the idea of propaganda related to a Marine sergeant’s reflexive attack on Nancy Sullivan?

3. What is an example of how war has changed Amanda Mallard’s perspective on adult life?

4. How does Conroy humanize Admiral Nimitz in Chapter 21?

Answers (will vary):

1. Sullivan explains feeling alien to Japan and its bushido code. She affirms that, despite her ancestry and desire to one day visit her homeland, she consider herself American and the Japanese military her enemy.

2. Propaganda is designed to elicit an immediate and powerful emotional response in a viewer through word and image and often works to create a stereotypical image of a group of people. It is the mere appearance of a Japanese person that inspires the Marine sergeant to act with violence against Nancy.

3. In accepting that her wedding to Dane cannot be like a fairy-tale, Mallard realizes that some childhood dreams might need to be tailored down in order to fit the parameters of reality. Moreover, Mallard recognizes that a couple’s pledge to one another holds value over the superficial appearances of ceremony.

4. In Chapter 21 Conroy illustrates in Nimitz a war general who doubts the certainty of his mission and fears that his reputation will be tarnished in history. Nimitz is nearly driven to tears as he observes a merciless Japanese bombardment and witnesses the deaths of innocent civilians and navy sailors.

GUIDE TO chapter 22

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:predecessor

- leverage

- fatigues

- recoil

- insolent

- convulse

- oblivious

- buffer

- moribund

- salvage

- inglorious

- dubious

- ignominious

- drydock

- starboard

- bracket

- vectored

- pal

- Focus activity/initiating question:

1. Present an image of a PBY plane. Explain to your students that when Dane arrives at the site of the Saratoga, he will regretfully learn that the PBY plane on which he came will be deliberately sunk in order to prevent a sighting by the Japanese. Review with your students Dane’s previous interactions with such planes and their overall importance in Rising Sun.

2. Ask your students what inanimate objects they feel a deep connection to, and why they feel such a connection. As a class read the poem “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes and analyze with your students thematic connections between the poem and Rising Sun. Draw attention to carriers both in action and in repair.

3. In a written response, have your students respond to the question, “When do objects become living things?”

Supportive media

- images/film clips the Battle of the Coral Sea

- image/film clips of the German battleship Bismarck

- image of Bronze Star medal

Chapter 22 Summary:

- [315-17] Lieutenant Dane arrives at Task Force 18 where American battleships, destroyers, and carriers Saratoga and Essex await. Overtaken by psoriasis, Admiral Halsey transfers command to Admiral Spruance, who informs his crew that the American carriers are heading toward a Japanese fleet not expected to have reliable radar. A young ensign gives word that the Japanese have sent planes to the Baja, and Spruance orders an attack.

- [317-19] Farris aids survivors at his devastated naval base, aware that Mallard’s nearby hospital has been severely bombarded. Farris and Nancy work to clear a hole in the hospital’s rubble possibly leading to its basement, and Nancy enters the hole to find mostly dead bodies. Nancy discovers a survivor and demands that the hole through which she entered be widened.

- [319-20] Masao Ikeda shoots down several American planes and begins to make his way toward the American decoy fleet, but he suddenly receives orders to retreat among a revelation that the American fleet is a decoy and that American planes are headed to attack Japanese carriers.

- [320-21] Carrier Kaga’s Admiral Nagumo decides to receive planes for refueling, and Toki anxiously awaits the arrival of American planes from the east. American planes, however, begin arriving from the west, surprising Kaga’s antiaircraft crew. American dive bombers proceed to bomb the Kaga, and Toki realizes that all Japanese carriers are being attacked. After receiving several hits against its deck and stern, the Kaga begins to list.

- [321-23] After completing two strafing runs against a Japanese carrier, Lieutenant Hogg is shot down by Masao Ikeda. Ikeda, worried about his fuel level and landing options, is ordered to head toward the American carriers.

- [323] Dane worries about Saratoga’s vulnerability to a Japanese strike as most of its planes were sent to fight Japanese carriers. Dane also worries about the fate of Mallard. An approach of enemy aircraft is announced.

- [323-25] Realizing the small likelihood of returning to his fleet, Masao Ikeda is determined to take American lives with his own. After failing to drop a bomb on Saratoga, Ikeda initiates a kamikaze attack on the carrier. Upon the flight deck, Dane and Merchant attempt to shield themselves from Ikeda’s hull impact and resultant explosion. Dane, badly injured, discovers Merchant’s lifeless body. Admiral Spruance helps Dane onto a stretcher, assuring Dane that the Saratoga remains intact.

- [325-26] Toki dons a lifejacket, jumps into the ocean, pulls himself into a raft and pulls some sailors in with him. Toki watches as Zeros crash into the ocean. When an American destroyer arrives, several of Toki’s companions let themselves drown in the ocean, but Toki surrenders.

- [326-27] When the massive Japanese battleship once again passes over the Shark, Lieutenant Torelli fires all of his torpedoes against it. One explosion is heard, its results uncertain.

- [327-30] Yamamoto is informed that a torpedo against his battleship has failed to do considerable damage, but realizes the defeat of his navy and the need to convince Prime Minister Tojo and Emperor Hirohito of negotiating a peace with the Americans. Yamamoto is informed that Yamato can only steam in circles due to a damaged rudder. Yamamoto orders that the battleship be towed out of danger, and that he and his staff transfer themselves to nearby destroyer Umikaze, leaving the remaining two battleships to their fates.

- [330-32] Older battleships are enlisted to replace American carrier Essex as she is refurbished and her pilots rested. Accompanied by battleships Colorado and Mississippi, Admiral Jesse Oldendorff on battleship Pennsylvania initiates final blows against injured Japanese battleship Kongo. The American battleships then surround and fire upon Yamato, which unexpectedly sinks the Pennsylvania with turret fire. In response, the Colorado and Mississippi sink the Yamato.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. Why is Lieutenant Dane’s first impression of the Saratoga ironic?

2. What decision is Toki faced with after jettisoning himself from his carrier?

Answers:

1. Carrier Saratoga plays a crucial and ongoing role in terms of military strategy in Rising Sun, but Dane finds himself more impressed with battleships Carolina and Washington.

2. Toki weighs the options between dying or letting himself be rescued by Americans.

Critical Thinking/Short Essay Questions:

1. Of all the characters in Rising Sun, with whom do you feel the strongest connection? Justify your response by referring to your chosen character’s behavior, thoughts, and words.

2. Think of two characters from Rising Sun that are enemies but have similarities. Explain how these characters are alike in their development throughout the novel.

GUIDE TO chapter 23 and Epilogue

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- relief convoy

- en route

- semblance

- gratify

- on the ropes

- melancholy

- incompetence

- expediency

- expansionist

- awry

- antebellum

- invalidate

- redemption

Supportive media

- 1940’s magazine covers of Time, Life, Colliers, and the Saturday Evening Post

- Image and concise description of Herbert Hoover

- A scene or images from the film The Longest Day

Chapter 23 and Epilogue Summary:

- [333-35] Lieutenant Dane, Farris, and nurse Mallard all recuperate from injuries at an army ward. Nancy Sullivan, who pulled Mallard from her hospital rubble, is present with Farris. Mallard informs the group that Sandy and Grace discovered the value of Mack’s will as well as the presence of accompanying stocks.

- [335-36] Ruby Oliver and Bear Foley return to a devastated Anchorage. Oliver quickly sells her restaurant property to a speculator and informs the army of cites where American bodies may be found. Oliver and Foley decide to move to Fairbanks near an airbase.

- [336-37] Admirals Nimitz and Spruance are celebrated across the nation as American carriers are restored and battleships constructed.

- [337-39] Engineer of Juan Escobar’s assassination, Mexican Army officer Juan Camarena is granted permission from the American FBI to terminate remaining Germans in Mexico who aided the Japanese. With false letters Camarena persuades the remaining Germans to flee to a house near Mexico City. In the night Camarena and fellow Mexican soldiers assassinate the Germans. Camarena informs Harris.

Guide to Epilogue

- [341-343] Twenty-five years later, former FBI Agent Harris visits Gunther Krause, who now goes by Gunner Kuess and is married with children. Harris asks Krause to contribute his knowledge to filmmakers making a film about the Battle of the Baja.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What is a likely reason that the Japanese lost more than half the amount of pilots that the U.S. lost?

2. What is discovered to have been ultimately responsible for leading to the destruction of Japanese battleship Yamato? Why is this revelation important?

3. Explain why Juan Camarena settles with siding with the American forces.

Critical Thinking Question:

1. Do you believe that Gunther Krause deserved to live a life of freedom in America after the war? How do his former actions as a saboteur weigh against his actions as an aid to American intelligence?

Answers:

1. Many Japanese pilots probably committed suicide as kamikazes or killed themselves rather than being rescued by American forces.

2. A torpedo from Commander Torelli’s submarine Shark is deemed to have prevented the Yamato from escaping to safety. If Torelli had not broken rules sent down from higher-ranking officers to not tamper with his torpedoes, the Yamato might not have been destroyed, perhaps dramatically changing the outcome of the battle near the San Diego coast.

3. While Camarena resents America for having unjustly appropriated Mexican provinces, he recognizes an evil in Hitler and is horrified by Nazi atrocities. Furthermore, Camarena fears that if Japan were to win the war, the Japanese would hold a distasteful authority over Mexico.

Summative Activity: Have students look back upon a past event in their lives that they wish they could alter. Ask them to consider what they could have done to produce different results, or if different external factors might have had an influence on the outcome of the event. Assign students to write their own alternative history focusing upon this event and envisioning it with a new outcome. Students can write about this event as a fictional piece, or as a mock-memoir excerpt.

The A Few Good Men

Reader’s Group Discussion Guide

Welcome to the Readers' Group Guide for Sarah A. Hoyt’s latest novel set in the Darkship Thieves universe. While technically a sequel to Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades, A Few Good Men takes up the threads of what happens on Earth in the aftermath of the discovery of exactly who -- and what -- the Good Men are and is the first title in Hoyt’s Earth’s Revolution saga.

On a near future Earth, “Good Man” does not mean “good” at all.  Instead, the term signifies a member of the ruling class, and what it takes to become a good man and to hold onto power is downright evil.  Now a conspiracy hundreds of years in the making is about to be brought to light when the imprisoned son of the Good Man of Olympic Seacity escapes from his solitary confinement cell and returns to find his father assassinated.

But when Luce Keeva attempts to take hold of the reins of power, he finds that not all is as it seems, that a plot for his own imminent murder is afoot—and that a worldwide conflagration looms.  It is a war of revolution, and a shadowy group known as the Sons of Liberty may prove to be Luce’s only ally in a fight to throw off an evil from the past that has enslaved humanity for generations.

1. A Few Good Men opens with the line, “The world celebrates great prison breaks.” Considering all the stories written about the fall of the Bastille, the Great Escape, etc., do you think we tend to celebrate such events and why? Should we, as Lucius Dante Maximilian Keeva (Luce) points out, be more concerned about the “monsters” who are also released alongside the “righteous and innocent”?

2. Were you surprised when Luce decided to return home to protect his mother and Ben’s family after learning not only that his father was dead but that his brother Max, who had been Good Man Keeva of Olympus Seacity, had been found murdered? What does this decision show about Luce that he doesn’t recognize in himself yet?

3. In the chapter Running Away, Luce goes to see Javier, Good Man of Andalus. Who do you think Javier thought he was talking to and why, especially after he mentions not liking the thought the Sons of Liberty could break into “your house and kidnap you”? Do you think, after Luce speaks with Jan Ranier and then Nat, that Luce might actually have gone insane and not realized it?

4. In Familiar Strangers, Nat explains to Luce exactly what the Good Men are, referencing the history of the Mules and Mule Lords. What sort of concerns do you have about genetic engineering, cloning and population control, all factors in the creation of the Mules and later the Good Men?

5. The Usian movement is referred to as a religion based on the “mythology of ancient country that used to occupy much of the North American territories”. What are the primary beliefs of the Usians and what is the basis of these beliefs?

6. The Sons of Liberty members take names from the American Revolution. Did you recognize any names before knowing the person was involved in the Sons of Liberty? Who and when?

7. In Riders in the Sturm, Luce and Sam Remy discuss policies the former Good Men had been implementing which created famines and caused deaths. Luce protests that no one man should be able to murder others and then say it is for their own good. Sam responds with, “It’s only evil if you believe there’s intrinsic value in each individual,” Sam said, ruthless. “Only if you believe it matters that individuals are treated like objects. And you can only care, if each individual, in your mind, has the right to self-determination.” What does he mean and what does this portend for Luce and his role as Good Man?

8. Some of the other organizations on Earth fighting against the Good Men include he Sans Culottes, Guy Fawkes’ Legion, Monster Hunters International, The Boys From Ipiranga, and The Incarnate Legion. Which of these, if any, have historical significance in our world?

9. Should the Sons of Liberty act to kill all who oppose them or remember the lessons of the American Revolution and the fact that only a third of those living in what became the United States actively supported freedom from England?

10. When Luce decides Nat has to be rescued, nothing is going to stop him. Were you surprised when Abigail follows him out of the boomer lair? Did his reaction, and the reason for it, at the end of Into Hell surprise you?

11. Throughout much of the novel, Luce has “discussions” with Ben, who died early into Luce’s incarceration. Is he really talking with Ben’s ghost or is “Ben” merely a conscience Luce doesn’t believe he still possesses since he sees himself as a “monster”? What about the “role” Ben plays in saving both Luce and Nat in And Death is at My Side -- is he Luce’s guardian angel or just that part of Luce’s brain that demands he live? Or is he something else?

12. When Nat says, “We hold strong opinions on the freedom of belief, freedom of expression, the right to self-defense, the right to private property and others,” what part of the Declaration of Independence does this come from and how do those beliefs apply today? What “rights” or “sins” do they not worry about?

13. The time Luce spends on the North American continent lets him have time not only to physically recover but also to begin mentally healing as well. Were you surprised by some of the decisions he made during that time, especially about his role as a Good Man?

14. When Martha comes to see Nat and Luce to tell them what has happened in their absence, she describes a schism that has always existed within the council for the Sons of Liberty as “[t]hose who believe that the principles must be applied even when they work against us, and those who feel we must ignore the principles until. . . until we restore our country and only then applied, and that the principles won’t come into being unless they’re imposed . . . dictatorially from above.” What is the difference between these positions and which one do you think should be followed?

15. The Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty play two very different, but very important roles in the revolution. Which one, in your opinion, would be most important in the successful completion of the war? Considering that gender was not a requirement for admission to either organization, were you surprised by their names? Was it a surprise to find that Luce was destined to work with one while Nat worked with the other?

16. In his broadcast, Luce states that, among the rights the Usians believe in is the right to self-defense, “even if the state determines you should die.” Does this include if you are condemned to death in a trial by your peers?

17. When Nate tells Luce they’ve been fighting the war on their (the Good Men’s) terms and that fighting it that way will cause the Sons of Liberty and their allies to lose, what does he mean?

18. The Good Men didn’t attack Olympus Seacity until after the communication from Circum. Were you surprised they waited so long? Were you surprised by the actions taken by James Madison Remy?

19. By the end of A Few Good Men, the battle is being won but the war is far from over. Do you think the sudden ability to communicate across the world without censorship, the knowledge the Good Men are, in reality, the feared and hated Mules from history will help turn the tide and lead to a restoration of a free government for all?

20. A Few Good Men picks up several plot threads begun in Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades. Do you feel the book stood on its own, or do you think it only works as part of a series?

Prepared by Amanda Green

Teacher’s Guide to Eight Million Gods

by Wen Spencer

Contents:

- Recommended reading levels

- Biographical material and links

- Plot summary

- Character sketches

- A separate guide to the chapters of the book, which includes a plot summary of each chapter and the following:

- Prepare to read…

- Vocabulary

- Focus questions or initiating activity

- Quiz / reading comprehension questions – multiple choice and short answer

- Reflection and discussion questions – may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions

- Suggested activities / inquiry-based exploration – suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: Because of the mature nature of some of the material included in the book, including references to rape, scenes of violence, and mature language, classroom use of this book is probably most appropriate for upper-level high school students. The book would be particularly effective for upper-level classes in World History.

Biographical information on Wen Spencer:

Born in Pennsylvania, Wen Spencer published her first novel, Alien Taste, in 2001, for which she won the Compton Crook Award. In 2003, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Spencer has published two series, the Elfhome series and the Ukiah Oregon Series. This novel, Eight Million Gods, is a stand-alone book set mainly in Japan, a place Spencer lived for a time. Currently, Spencer lives in Hawaii with her family and enjoys traveling.

Biographical resources about Spencer on the web: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26546.Wen_Spencer/blog

- Wen Spencer’s own site contains autobiographical information as well as information on her books : http://www.wenspencer.com/

- Here is the Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Spencer

- Wen Spencer keeps a blog here where she talks about writing and current works: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26546.Wen_Spencer/blog

- Here is another entry about Wen Spencer including current news updates about her books: http://www.bookish.com/authors/wen-spencer/97f6f0a0-b077-4a6a-9a07-ec9227e24fd8

Suggested class activity: Have your students read about Wen Spencer from various sources, including her own site, before beginning the book. Based on what they learn, they can create predictions for what kind of ideas and themes may be present in Eight Million Gods with a follow-up reflection after reading. How, for example, would her love of anime and manga show up in a novel set in Japan?

Plot Summary:

Nikki Delany, a 20 year old girl diagnosed with hypergraphia, a compulsion to write, begins the novel on the run from her mother, a United States Senator bent on hospitalizing Nikki. Instead, Nikki runs to Japan and begins a new life there with her best friend, Miriam, and an advance on her second novel. Her new novel, like her first and other writings, flowed out of her from her compulsion to write and includes grisly death scenes and tortured relationships. It was not until a random discussion about her latest plot development in a restaurant that Nikki realized all of the events in her writing were true. Drawn to find out how much of her writing reflected real life events, Nikki searches the pages for clues and uncovers a supernatural organization called Shiva bent on finding her, keeping her quiet, and possibly using her for her ability, as it makes her what they call a Talent. With the help of a samurai god and Shiva agent Leo, Nikki goes on a quest to find the truth, explore her talent, and free herself and the people she loves.

Character Sketches:

Nikki Delany – Nikki is the protagonist of the novel. She escapes to Japan to evade involuntary commitment to a mental hospital and tries to begin her life anew. During the course of the novel, she discovers that her hypergraphia, a condition that compels her to write, is truly a channel for her Talent. Nikki can write about events before they happen and construct past events with great clarity.

Senator Laverne Delany – Nikki’s mother is a United States Senator. She uses this powerful position to leverage others to find her daughter and repeatedly committed to mental institutions. Eventually, she discovers Nikki is in Japan and tries to track her down and take her home.

Miriam Frydman – Nikki’s best friend since high school. Miriam helps Nikki get to Japan and believes her when events in Nikki’s life take a supernatural turn. Miriam is wealthy and enjoys the nightlife of Japan as well. She is a “Sensitive,” which means that she can intuit things about people and situations that some others cannot.

Detective Tanaka – Detective Tanaka initially brings Nikki into the station for questioning in a murder very similar to one Nikki described in her writing, but quickly realizes Nikki’s innocence. He tries to help find out the connection between Nikki’s writing and the murders in Japan.

Taira no Atsumori – This is a god who was once a samurai and lives in a small shrine. Nikki finds the katana that houses his spirit, and the two become allies in the hunt for the truth. With his help, Nikki gains courage, fighting prowess, and the ability to move unseen on cameras. He also helps explain elements of the Japanese religion, culture, and history to Nikki as she travels.

Leo Watanabe – a.k.a. “Scary Cat Dude” – He may not be completely human as his mother may have been an bakeneko. As a child, he was often referred to as "it" until Simon took him in and cared for him like a son. Leo now works for Shiva and tries to protect Nikki.

Ananth – A supervisor in the Shiva organization. Leo must check in with him regularly and receive instructions. Both are wary of each other.

Simon Fowler – Leo’s adoptive father and another member of Shiva. In the beginning of the story, Simon is missing, and Leo tries to find him as well as do Shiva’s bidding at the same time.

Pixii – Pixii is a member of Team Banzai and close friend of Nikki and Miriam’s. She lives at a mountain shrine as an apprentice to a master potter and provides shelter for the group when needed. She has experience in combat as a medic and earned doctorate in arts and archaeology.

Chevalier – Chevalier is a Frenchman who works for Shiva. He acts as a guard for dangerous Talents since he is impervious to their magical abilities.

Denjiro Sato – Sato is a Japanese agent for Shiva. He claims to be able to trace his lineage to the Japanese Emperors and has been alive for a very long time. Sato is a Talent and considered a dangerous asset to be used cautiously.Haru and Nobu - Haru and Nobu are eight year old twins who live near Kyoto. Haru has been chosen to be the celestial child for a festival, but Nobu plans to take his place as his brother is afraid of heights.

Kenichi Inoue – Kenichi works at a nightclub in Dontonbori where he spends his nights trying to get wealthy women to spend money on alcohol. His family lived in Ishuzi, and he returned to the family house after the death of his father to see if there was anything else he wanted before the area is flooded for dam project. While there, he found the god worshipped by his family had possessed Simon Fowler. He takes both back to Dontonbori and continues in the family tradition of serving the god, even if it means providing her with the body of the woman he loves, Miriam.

Guide to Chapters 1-5:

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (note – the author has included a glossary of Japanese terms to aid you in the terms marked in italics:

- mental hygiene law and involuntary commitment

- Superman’s relationship to kryptonite

- hypergaphia

- Chanel and Prada fashion lines

- interloper

- fan fiction

- gaijin

- irasshaimase

- “salaryman”

- anime

- manga

- vivisection

- anecdotal evidence

- alpha male

- tourist visa papers

- muse

- doppelganger

- trump card

- analytic software

- expatriate

- kanji

- nirvana

- shrine maiden

- ikuta shrine

- katana

- honden

- shintai

- kami

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the genre of urban fantasy. What are some of the characteristics of the genre? What kind of predictions can you make about the story to come?

- Nikki believes that her mother can sway more influence with people because she is a United States Senator. What are some of the benefits of being a Senator? Why does Nikki believe this?

- Research hypergraphia. What are the characteristics of the condition? What kinds of behavior can we expect from Nikki? How much of this is under her control?

- Research involuntary commitment to a mental hospital. What kind of behavior does Nikki have to exhibit for her mother to be able to commit her? Have you seen any of this from her to date?

- Compare and contrast rights of accused criminals in Japan and the United States. What rights does a foreigner expect in Japan if accused of a crime?

- What are ways authors connect with fans? Why is this relationship between an author and fans important?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter One – Nikki Delaney escapes the police and her mother, who have arrived at her friend Sheila’s house to commit her to a mental hospital.

- Chapter Two – Nikki lives in Japan and continues to get used to the cultural differences. While eating with her friend Miriam, Nikki describes her latest murder detailed in her writing. Unfortunately, a nearby customer overhears them and reports the conversation. Detective Tanaka arrives to detain Nikki about a murder.

- Chapter Three – Nikki discovers the murder contains many similarities to a murder she posted on her blog. Using the blog and receipts to prove her innocence, Nikki remains very distressed about the situation. Tanaka believes the murder to be the work of a deranged fan.

- Chapter Four – A man from the consulate arrives and aides in Nikki’s release. Nikki and Miriam begin to wonder if any other of Nikki’s writings could also be real events.

- Chapter Five – Nikki writes about a new character, a man she calls Scary Cat Dude for now, who works for a secret organization and is checking into a fire at a shrine and the murder fitting Nikki’s description in her blog. To help discover the truth, Nikki wants to visit the apartment of the murdered man.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. What does Nikki NOT do to slow down the progress of her mother and the police officers in Sheila’s apartment?

1. She jams the door.

2. She releases dogs.

3. She hides in a closet.

4. She quotes law to the officer.

2. What do you think “Bounce” means?

3. Nikki and Miriam are close friends, but they are very different. Contrast what you know about the two characters.

4. The Japanese consider okonomiyaki a kind of Japanese:

1. sandwich.

2. pizza.

3. cocktail.

4. casserole.

5. How did Nikki kill her character George in her latest novel?

6. What is the cause of misunderstanding in the restaurant?

7. Why does Nikki steal pens?

8. Nikki tells the police that she is in Japan because:

1. She is doing research for her writing.

2. She is going to marry a Japanese man.

3. She is requesting the government to be a citizen.

4. She is seeking sanctuary from her mother.

9. Who is Team Banzai?

10. What happened to the Ikuta Shrine?

1. Nothing.

2. The shrine flooded.

3. The shrine was closed due to lack of care.

4. The shrine burned down.

11. Who was the shrine dedicated to?

12. How is the murdered man connected to the shrine fire?

Answers:

1. C

2. “Bounce” means that Nikki had to leave on short notice.

3. Miriam is fluent in Japanese, unlike Nikki. Nikki admires Miriam’s outgoing nature, including her dyed hair and short skirts. Nikki is more introverted.

4. B

5. Nikki wrote that someone killed him with a blender.

6. The “salaryman” in a nearby table heard their story of murder and apparently believed they were talking about an actual murder.

7. She steals pens as a part of her compulsion to write. Sometimes just being able to click them staves off her compulsion when writing is not an option.

8. A

9. Team Banzai is a close group of Nikki’s fans and friends. They are the only people she trusts.

10. D

11. Taira no Atsumori was a samurai, who is now worshipped as a god.

12. The man murdered by a blender set fire to the shrine after raping and killing a girl.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. Describe Nikki’s relationship with her mother. What evidence from the first chapter supports your opinion?

2. Why is it an important detail that her mother would be wearing Chanel and Prada? How does that help us understand the character of her mother?

3. Nikki describes moments of culture shock as “taking a baseball bat to the head labeled ‘OMG.’” Why does she make this comparison? What are some examples of moments when she feels culture shock? How did coming to Japan early affect her culture shock?

4. How does Nikki describe her writing process and its relationship to her hypergraphia? Why does she struggle to shape her writing into a more traditional tale with a hero and a love story?

5. Why does Nikki distrust people in authority? What reasons does she give for this suspicion? Do you believe it is founded? Explain your answer.

6. Why does Nikki continue to fear her mother’s influence when she is so far away? What lengths does she go to in order to keep herself private? Do you think she is paranoid, or is this smart thinking on her part? Explain your answer.

7. Nikki does not remember until she leaves the station that she wrote about other murders as well. What causes her worry about these other murders? What do you think she will do next?

8. What is the relationship between a shintai, honden and the kami? Can you find any correlations in our culture?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Learn more about the Shinto religion and the importance of shrines at sites such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto or http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html . How are shrines created? Who visits them, and why?

2. Learn more about the steps needed to leave the United States. Nikki has been planning her escape for some time. What would she have had to do? How easy is this?

3. Research the history of swords in Japanese culture at sites such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sword or http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-samurai-sword.html . Why would the Japanese have more laws about swords than guns?

4. Learn more about how some writers describe their writing process. What kinds of similarities do you see? How do you write?

5. Japan is full of rituals that citizens enact throughout the day. What are some of those daily rituals? What do they mean, and what is the importance of keeping them? Read more about daily life in Japan at http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=647 or http://www.tokyo-top-guide.com/life_in_japanese_culture.html/

Guide to Chapters 6-10

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (items in italics can be found in the author’s glossary):

- Subletting

- Kimono

- Lady Macbeth and “out damn’d spot”

- Histrionic

- Tanuki

- Cram school

- Kaguraden

- Edo period

- Kanji

- Susanoo

- Amaterasu

- Sarutahiko

- Tale of Genji

- Oracle

- Keen

- Juggernaut

- Ghostbusters movie and crossing the streams

- Yakuza

- Inari

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Examine the underground malls in parts of Japan, such as at the Umeda Station. Why does Nikki call it mazelike? What is confusing?

- Perform a thought experiment: imagine a famous person. If that person’s spirit could continue to live on in an object, which object would it be for that person and why? How would people take care of the object? Who would help care for it over time?

- Learn more about the yakuza. Who are they and why do people fear them? Why would their involvement in any of the events of the story complicate matters?

- Read about the Japanese gods, such as Susanoo and Amaterasu, and what they represent to the Japanese people. Why do what some gods represent, like Inari, change over time? How do they stay relevant?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 6 – Nikki visits the apartment of Gregory, the man who was murdered in a way identical to the method described in her blog. While there, she finds information consistent with her writing that she did not blog, which disturbs her. She retrieves the katana Gregory left in a locker.

- Chapter 7 – Nikki returns home and decides to flee. As she packs, Detective Tanaka appears at her home, but Nikki quickly feels something is wrong. She hides in the bathroom as Tanaka attacks her, hearing the voice of a man beside her telling her what to do. The next thing Nikki knows, she is looking at a body of a dead man/creature who was killed by her katana. She does not remember killing him and begins to be afraid.

- Chapter 8 – Nikki struggles with her missing memory and recent events, beginning to wonder if she is truly insane. Scary Cat Dude finds Nikki’s apartment and discovers Nikki’s writing about him, his organization, and others. He takes Nikki's notebooks with him and convinces his boss to let him find her. Nikki tries to go to a safe place and worries about her blackouts.

- Chapter 9 – Nikki tries to return home for her passport and credit cards. Instead, she finds herself at the burned shrine, unable to explain how she got there. Atsumori, the kami of the shrine, appears to her and explains that he has been with her since she found his katana. He has been possessing her body when needed to guide and protect her. He tells Nikki that she is an oracle, and her writing has been all true. This horrifies Nikki, as she has written of more deaths and based a character on herself.

- Chapter 10 – Nikki calls Pixii, a friend and member of Team Banzai, and makes plans to stay with her. Atsumori wants his blade purified, and they decide to do that first. On the way Nikki and Atsumori piece together what has been happening at his shrine and with the murders. Nikki agrees to purification of herself and the sword. She also agrees to help Atsumori but draws the line at helping him seek out revenge. At the shrine Inari explains to Nikki how gods can take over the bodies of some humans more easily than others.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Why does Nikki tell a tenant in the building she is staying at Gregory’s apartment?

2. What is the importance of the discovery of the plastic bag at the apartment?

1. It proves Gregory was near Nikki’s home.

2. It proves Gregory bought an incriminating item linking him to the shrine fire.

3. It proves Gregory lived with one of Nikki’s fans.

4. It proves Gregory could not have burned the shrine.

3. Why does Nikki believe the killer will stick to her version of events?

4. Why is Nikki finding it harder to “bounce”?

5. Why does Detective Tanaka appear different in her apartment?

6. Who is Natasha Demming?

1. Another victim.

2. A girlfriend of Gregory’s.

3. Another name for Nikki.

4. A member of Team Banzai.

7. What does “Scary Cat Dude” find at Nikki’s place that interests him?

8. How does Atsumori explain Nikki’s blackouts?

1. He confirms she is going insane.

2. He explains that he has drugged Nikki during certain incidents.

3. He hypnotized Nikki.

4. He has been taking over Nikki’s body at certain times to protect and guide her.

9. According to the boy at the shrine, some humans are easier for kami to enter than others. He compares those humans to:

1. wine.

2. water.

3. sand.

4. marble.

10. Why must Nikki and the sword be purified?

Answers:

1. She needs to get in the door and investigate the murder scene for herself.

2. B

3. She thinks the killer is a Japanese fan, and the Japanese are lawful.

4. Nikki has never had to flee her own home, and she had begun to create a life for herself.

5. He seems taller and has a stronger cologne scent to him. He seems more dangerous. He also did not observe customs with his shoes and lack of bow to her. In reality, it is not him.

6. C

7. Aside from the dead tanuki, he finds a series of notes and papers that connect to his life but contain information no one else knows.

8. D

9. C

10. The spilt blood makes them 'unclean.'

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. Nikki makes deliberate choices about what she puts on her blog and in other public places and what she keeps private. Why is she so careful? Do you believe she has blogged too much information? Explain your opinion.

2. Continue to take note of Nikki’s writing process. What more do we learn in this section about how she writes, when she writes, and the degree of control, if any, she has over her work?

3. When Detective Tanaka comes to Nikki's apartment, she starts to hear voices. She fears she is going insane. Later, she attributes her blackouts to insanity as well. Why? Do you believe she is going insane?

4. Nikki and Atsumori differ in their interpretations of recent events, yet each seems plausible to the reader. What are both explanations for what has been happening, and which do you believe to be the most believable? Why?

5. Why does Nikki feel dread because she has written herself into her story?

6. Why does it bother Nikki that Atsumori takes over her body at times?

7. Atsumori says that “Prayer is to ask earnestly for help from one greater than yourself. That is begging.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Use the details in chapter nine to map out the shrine. How do all the pieces of the shrine fit together to create a sacred space? Do all shrines have similar components?

2. In chapter nine, Atsumori explains the title of the book, Eight Million Gods. What does he say? How does this outlook compare to yours? What are the implications of having so many beings to worship? How would it change the way a person looks at the world? There is more information about the kami at http://www.jref.com/japan/culture/religion/kami.shtml

3. The need for purification echoes the ideas of Rene Girard. Investigate his notions of violence and the sacred here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard and explain in your own words the need for purification after a violent act. What are some modern-day ways to purify after being exposed to something violent? Do we still need purification?

Guide to Chapters 11-15

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (terms in italics can be found in the author’s glossary at the back):

- Yokai

- Yukata

- Toryanse

- Tenjin shrine

- Obakemono

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Perform a thought experiment: if you could have a special talent or ability, what would you choose? Think in-depth about your choice. What would be the positive and negative consequences of that choice? Are you willing to take on both?

- Research schizophrenia. What are the symptoms? Nikki wonders if what is happening to her fits this diagnosis. Is she correct? Do you think that none of this is true and that Nikki is truly going insane?

- Nikki sometimes leaves out sensory details in her writing because she focuses on plot, especially when someone is being murdered. She realizes in this section, however, that some of those details she leaves out may help hone in on important information. Try to write about a special place from memory. How many sensory details can you recall? How does adding them make the writing more vivid?

- Nikki likes to have the katana near her for safety. What items comfort you when you are scared or stressed? What makes those items important? What do they represent?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 11 – Nikki finishes the purification process and decides to return to her apartment to get her passport, wallet, and other essentials. She uses her ability to write about her apartment to see if it is safe to go there. By doing so, she realizes that Scary Cat Dude and two other members of a secret organization are in her apartment cleaning up the mess with the tanuki. In the end, Scary Cat Dude leaves with her wallet and passport. Nikki still wants to return home to see if what she wrote is true.

- Chapter 12 – Nikki returns home and finds the room clean, just as she wrote about it. She also sees, as she wrote, that her notes and other belongings are gone, just as her writing portrayed. She leaves ready to find Scary Cat Dude and get her belongings back.

- Chapter 13 – Scary Cat Dude meets with Miriam and finds out more about Nikki. Without Atsumori’s knowledge, Nikki contacts Scary Cat Dude to get back her passport and wallet. When they meet face-to-face, the man gives his name as Leo Watanabe. Several tanuki attack, and Atsumori takes over Nikki’s body to fight them, but Nikki is injured in the battle.

- Chapter 14 – Nikki heals and tries to write about Simon, Leo’s father. She sees him in a hotel room in Japan, but her ability to tap into Simon keeps getting cut off, and she is not sure why. She agrees to go with Leo to Izushi, which was where Simon was last seen.

- Chapter 15 – Nikki and Leo prepare to leave for Izushi, and Nikki writes about Leo’s background in hopes of learning more about him. By doing so, she discovers that Leo may not be completely human and was treated badly as a boy until Simon intervened and took him in.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Why does Nikki feel that she has no other source of money than writing?

2. Why does Scary Cat Dude want to keep it a secret that Nikki is a “Talent”?

1. He is afraid that his bosses will take over and bring her in.

2. He is afraid that his bosses will kill her.

3. He is afraid that his bosses will send her back to American.

4. He is afraid that his bosses will tell him to leave her alone.

3. Why did Chevalier say that they followed the police?

4. What more have we learned about Scary Cat Dude? Is this a good name for him?

5. Why can the Scary Cat Dude find no information on Nikki’s phone?

6. What do you think Scary Cat Dude means when he calls Miriam a “Sensitive”?

7. Scary Cat Dude tries to gain Miriam’s trust by claiming to be working for:

1. the CIA.

2. the police.

3. the Senator’s office.

4. the FBI.

8. How does Nikki get Scary Cat Dude’s phone number?

9. Who is Simon Fowler?

Answers:

1. Nikki does not speak or read Japanese, does not have a college degree necessary for most jobs for foreigners, and does not have a work permit.

2. A

3. Leo was sent to Nikki's apartment because Shiva learned that she was "a person of interest" in the police investigation of Gregory's murder. Chevalier is hinting that another organization has access to the police files.

4. We know that he works for an organization that keeps him on a tight leash. He wants to find someone named Simon, and the Chevalier holds that over his head when Scary Cat Dude wants to step out of line. Both he and Chevalier refer to Scary Cat Dude as a monster, but we do not know why. We also know that he is armed, and he is looking for Nikki. Even though he is in the presence of superiors, he does not trust them. He hides information from them about Nikki’s abilities. He has already put together that the god has taken over her at times, and he does not share this, either. Later, in Chapter 15, Nikki writes about when Leo was seven and Simon first takes him in.

5. Nikki wiped the data in the phone as just one of her many security measures.

6. He means that she can sense, or intuit, things about people and situations that others cannot. This was why she was uncomfortable near him in the subway.

7. D

8. She writes about his encounter with Miriam and gets the phone number from a card he gives her.

9. Simon is Leo’s adoptive father and the person Nikki has referred to in her writing as “The Brit.”

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. Nikki continues to wrestle with what is true and what is not. She decides to assume that odd events she has witnessed are true. What are the implications of this assumption?

2. Continue to observe how Nikki’s writing process changes the more she finds out about her writing. How does her attitude towards her writing and her approach to writing change? In particular, what does she say about the process of writing minor characters or witnesses?

3. Why do you think Sato cleans up Nikki’s apartment? Why would it benefit Sato’s organization for the police NOT to know what happened with the tanuki?

4. Both Scary Cat Dude and Chevalier refer to a missing person named Simon. Who do you think Simon is, and how does he connect to this story?

5. Miriam tells Scary Cat Dude a lot about Nikki, trusting he is with the FBI. What makes her more trusting than Nikki? Was she right to give out so much information?

6. What does Scary Cat Dude mean when he says “People don’t want the truth. It’s big and scary. It has sharp teeth and it’s hiding under the bed, just waiting for the lights to go out”? Do you agree or disagree with that sentiment? Why?

7. Why does Nikki continue to keep some things from Atsumori? What do you think it will take for her to trust him? Do you think her willingness to turn over the katana to Leo was truly betrayal?

8. Nikki has more awareness of the battle with the tanuki this time when Atsumori takes over her body. What are her feelings about the experience? How does this change her? How do you think she will feel about Atsumori taking over her body in the future?

9. Do you think Nikki’s loneliness stems from her reluctance to trust others and talk about her life? Why or why not?

10. Nikki seems to put more faith in Leo than she has almost any other person, especially since she has not known him long. Why? Why does she look to how he cares for the kitten as evidence of Leo’s personality?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Find out more about monsters in Japanese mythology. One place to start would be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_from_Japan Monsters generally represent things people fear and are forbidden. Here is a list of other types of monsters: http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/list-of-mythical-creatures.html If you had to create a monster today, what fear would it represent? Why? What can fight it?

2. Learn more about the spirit behind an offering or gift to a god by exploring the work of Marcel Mauss at sites such as http://www.studymode.com/essays/Article-Review-Mauss-Gift-Form-Reason-93972.html Nikki seems uncomfortable with Atsumori’s explanation of how he “eats.” What does an offering mean? Where does it really go? What expectations lie behind such a gift? Is it fair to expect something in return?

3. Nikki mentioned a character sheet for her writing when she needs to know more information about one of her characters. Some writers use character sheets to make sure their characters have depth and complexity. Create a character using a character sheet like the one at http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/character-cafe/threads/70798 or http://www.suspense.net/profile.htm and share with a partner or two. Afterwards, reflect on the process. How easy was it to create a character? Where would this kind of character fit in a story?

Guide to Chapters 16-20

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (items in italics can be found in the author’s glossary at the end of the book):

- déjà vu

- kendo

- sanitized

- Hello Kitty

- Chigo

- Gion Matsuri

- Inquisition in Europe

- Bakeneko

- geisha

- Shikansen

- Onsen

- Namazu

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the ideas of multiple/alternate universes.

- Perform a thought experiment: if you could travel to a library that held the details of your future and the future of your family and country, would you want to go? What information would you want? Would you try to change anything, or would you accept what the books represented as your life? (ch. 1)

- Find out more about the effects of the 2012 tsunami in Japan. Why would some seek for a supernatural cause? What are some ramifications of the tsunami in Japan today?

- Research the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Why did this happen? How did the bombing affect the residents there? Why is this an important piece of history?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 16 – Nikki and Leo check into a hotel at Ishuzi and begin to retrace Simon’s last steps. Once there, Nikki tries to sort through her notes and find a common thread. Leo tells her more about the Shiva organization and why Simon was alone when he went missing.

- Chapter 17 – As Nikki continues to sort through her notes, Atsumori appears and explains more about what a yokai is and reminds Nikki that she still needs to help him. Nikki tries to write more about Simon but gets poor results.

- Chapter 18 – Nikki goes with Leo to the place where Simon was last seen and begins to write about Simon’s experience there. She discovers that the kami the family worshipped possessed Simon and confronted Kenichi. The kami demanded that Kenichi continued his family’s tradition of service and take them to Osaka.

- Chapter 19 – Nikki fills in Leo about what she has learned about Kenichi and the situation with the kami and Simon. She also tells Leo that the yakuza have a strong presence there. Both Leo and Atsumori want Nikki to stay away from the situation because they do not want the kami to possess Nikki.

- Chapter 20 – Nikki logs into a secret Team Banzai website and reads that her mother has arrived in Japan to find her. Sato and Chevalier surprises Nikki and Leo, having been sent to find and capture Leo. Leo tells the Shiva agents about what happened to Simon. Chevalier agrees to help save Simon by following Leo and Nikki to Osaka.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Why does Nikki demand that Leo not refer to her as his wife?

2. Why does Nikki like her Hello Kitty clothing?

3. Nikki now understands why she cannot always write what is happening with Simon. What causes these missing moments?

1. The Kami possesses him.

2. Simon is asleep.

3. Simon can shield his thoughts from her.

4. Nothing important happens.

4. Why does Chevalier think Nikki is a monster?

5. What does Nikki compare love to?

1. An illness.

2. A drug.

3. A storm.

4. A sunset.

Answers:

1. Calling her “wife” reminds Nikki that she will never have a normal life, and this saddens her.

2. She feels that Hello Kitty is a role model because she is “beautiful by always being herself” and does not need anything fancy to be happy.

3. A

4. He thinks all people with abilities are monsters of some sort, and he classified Nikki as a “good monster.”

5. B

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. How does Leo feel about Shiva? Why does this help explain his reluctance to tell them that he already found Nikki? Based on Leo’s description, Nikki compares Shiva to her mother. Do you feel this is a fair comparison? Why or why not?

2. Why does Nikki continue to fear her mother more than Shiva?

3. Continue to note Nikki’s writing process. In this section, she discusses the way that she ties characters together and works on plot threads. How does this coincide with her life and the events unfolding around her?

4. Nikki feels pulled in more than one direction between the needs of Atsumori and the needs of Leo. While she feels that helping find Simon will ultimately be good for Atsumori as well, she cannot explain why. Where do you believe Nikki should spend her time? What are Nikki’s needs in this situation, and is she ignoring them?

5. What does Nikki mean by the “comfort of belief”? Since Nikki believed in nothing before this experience, how is she changing?

6. Why does the kami hope that Kenichi has several Sensitives in his group of adoring women? How will that help the kami?

7. Why would the kami be raiding shrines? What would a shrine have that the kami needs?

8. Why is Nikki uneasy about falling in love with Leo? Because she writes about Leo, she knows how he feels about her, but this does not reassure her. Why?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Fear can be a powerful force. Leo believes that Kenichi’s fear of the kami keeps him from protecting the women he knows, specifically the woman he loves. Read more about how fear affects the body at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear or http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/fear and decide whether or not you agree. How can fear interfere with people meeting their goals?

2. How do you define love? Here is one entry about love that looks at how love has been described over the years and in different cultures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love and a site with quotes about love at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Love . Choose a quote about love and defend or reject its claim about love using the dictionary definition. Now, take this knowledge back to the situation with Nikki. Do you feel like either is really in love? Have a debate and see which side wins out.

3. Choose an important natural or man-made event in American history and write about how that event shaped America and changed America in a significant way. How does this compare with the events in Japanese history mentioned in this section, the bombing of Hiroshima and the tsunami?

Guide to Chapters 21-25

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- Belle from Beauty and the Beast

- Sailor Moon

- manga

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the long-standing debate of fate vs. free will. Where do you stand on the issue? Nikki struggles with whether or not she can change the stories she writes. What do you think? How much control do you feel you have over your future?

- Perform a thought experiment: if you could travel to a library that held the details of your future and the future of your family and country, would you want to go? What information would you want? Would you try to change anything, or would you accept what the books represented as your life? (ch. 1)

- Find out more about manga, a genre Miriam loves and introduces to Nikki. What are some characteristics of manga? How is it different from comics or graphic novels? What do some of the more popular manga have in common?

- Learn more about the character Cruella De Vil. Why would this be an appropriate code name for Nikki’s mother, based on Nikki’s perception of their relationship?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 21 – Leo and Nikki drive to Osaka to find Simon. On the way, they try to piece together what they know. Nikki realizes that some of the yakuza may be tanuki.

- Chapter 22 – Leo reserves a room at a Love Motel for himself and Nikki. He tells her to wait until dawn and then leave if he does not return. Nikki wants to tell him she loves him before he leaves, but she cannot bring himself to do it.

- Chapter 23 – Nikki waits at the hotel and writes about Leo, only to learn that on his way to meet Sato and Chevalier a car hits Leo. Nikki rushes to the crash site and tries to determine what happened to Leo. She discovers he's been taken prisoner. Nikki calls Miriam who warns Nikki that her mother has people following Miriam, and that Miriam is dating Kenichi.

- Chapter 24 – This chapter flashes back to Nikki and Miriam’s first meeting at Foxcroft. In that meeting, Miriam shows a love of Nikki’s writing and introduces her to manga and a love of things Japanese.

- Chapter 25 – Nikki finds Miriam, and they catch up on events since last they met. Once both realize Miriam’s relationship with Kenichi puts her in danger, both decide to move forward, find Simon, and help Leo.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Why does Nikki believe that the kami possessing Simon is a female?

2. If the yakuza at the club are tanuki, how does that make finding Simon more difficult?

3. If Leo does not return to the hotel by dawn, what does he want Nikki to do?

1. Try to write more about Simon.

2. Sleep, because Nikki is still healing.

3. Leave and disappear.

4. Call Sato and Chevalier.

4. Why does Nikki seem surprised to find Leo’s gun left at the scene of the accident?

5. Why does Nikki’s mother enroll Nikki into Foxcroft under a different name?

1. So that Nikki can be safe from the paparazzi.

2. So that Nikki can start with a clean slate.

3. So that Nikki cannot be found by Shiva.

4. So that Nikki does not embarrass her.

6. Why does Nikki lie at Foxcroft about her past?

7. How does Miriam respond to Nikki’s information that her writing reveal true events?

1. Miriam is horrified.

2. Miriam thinks it is cool.

3. Miriam is scared.

4. Miriam is angry.

Answers:

1. Kenichi referred to her as a “princess,” and before that it seemed he was conflicted about the kami’s gender. The wording seemed feminine.

2. If the yakuza are tanuki, they can change shape and are much more dangerous.

3. C

4. Finding the gun means that there were more attackers, and now she is unsure of who has Leo and why.

5. D

6. She wants to fit in and pretend she has a normal life.

7. B

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. How does Nikki’s feelings for Leo affect her decision making?

2. Why is the allusion to Beauty and the Beast an appropriate allusion for Nikki and Leo?

3. In the past, Nikki has tried to write in ways to prevent a character’s death, but nothing changed. Now that she is beginning to believe that what she writes is true, she wonders if she has any chances to alter the direction a plot takes. What do you think?

4. Why should Nikki be concerned about Kenichi and Miriam’s relationship?

5. Miriam tells Nikki at Foxcroft that “Happiness comes from knowing your heart and giving it what it wants.” Do you agree? Why or why not? Using Miriam’s definition, what would make you happy?

6. After Nikki reveals her Talent to Miriam, what does Miriam share about herself with Nikki? Why does she wait until now to tell her these things?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. When Nikki becomes too overwhelmed and cannot write, she often visualizes a beach. Later, she visualizes a specific place in Hawaii with Leo far away from Shiva and the danger they face. What is it about visualization that helps? Read more about the science behind visualization in this article at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization and then write about other visualizations that might produce a calming or relaxing effect.

2. Nikki tells Miriam at Foxcroft that she is writing stories with a friend by adding chapters. Sometimes whole books are constructed this way. Take a look at either Sorcery and Cecilia, a book written by two friends through corresponding letters (an excerpt is at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4662966) or Naked Came the Manatee, a book with each chapter written by a different author (there is an article about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Came_the_Manatee) and see how writers can co-create together. Try something similar in class. Place an image on the screen and let students write for a period of time. When that time is up, have students pass their writing to the next person who should read and add more to the story. Let that continue for some time and then give the writing back to the original author. Share some of the results.

3. Miriam feels a sense of duty to help people Nikki wrote into the story. Because she knows them, she feels she cannot sit by as bad things happen to them. This line of thinking follows the philosophy of moral proximity, the idea that the closer we are to the problem, the more we feel the need to become involved in the solution. A video with another author discussing this idea and how it applies outside of fiction can be found at http://armchairarchives.blogspot.com/2010/12/friends-lovers-chocolate-isabel.html . When you are finished exploring this idea, make a map of events in your life that inspired you to take action. How did a close connection to the event move you?

Guide to Chapters 26-30

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (terms in italics can be found in the author glossary at the back of the book):

- Maneki Neko statues

- Iwanaga Hime

- Ohkuninushi

- Amaterasu

- Ama-no Uzume

- Ninigi

- Izanagi

- Jorogumo

- Shide

- Kojiki

- Joan of Arc

- Buddha

- Kannon

- Zeniari Benten Shrine

- Gion festival

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the Japanese creation myth. What deities are responsible for the creation of Japan, and why is that important? How does your version compare to what Nikki is told in Chapter 26?

- Find out more about the role breadcrumbs play in the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel.” How are they used? What could Nikki be doing that would require similar actions?

- Research the story of Amenonuboku. Why is it an important object? What would Iwanaga want with it? How does it compare to Kusanagi or Excalibur? What are the names of some other famous objects, and what power do they hold?

- Learn more about some of the Japanese gods. How do the elements they represent help characterize their nature?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 26 – Miriam, Nikki, and Atsumori go to Kenichi’s club. After some pressure, Kenichi tells them the name of the hotel where the goddess stays and why Miriam is important to her plan. All three have to fight many yakuza to leave the club successfully.

- Chapter 27 – Miriam, Nikki, and Atsumori enter the hotel and rescue Simon.

- Chapter 28 – Miriam, Nikki, and Atsumori take Simon to Pixii’s home on the mountain. On the way, they discuss what they know and try to determine why Iwanaga has been visiting so many shrines. Once they arrive, Pixii starts to address Simon’s wounds, and the others meet her mentor, Yamauchi.

- Chapter 29 – Nikki wakes early and writes about Leo to see if she can find out more about where he is and how he is doing. Leo is caged and being questioned by Williams, a member of Shiva. She then intentionally writes from the perspective of Chevalier to determine what he knows and discovers that Sato killed Chevalier in Izushi. The chapter then flashes back to Sato’s presence at the bombing of Hiroshima.

- Chapter 30 – Simon recovers enough to hear about what has happened since his escape. He tells Nikki, Miriam, and Atsumori that Iwanaga wants Amenonuboku, a mythical spear.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. The goddess needs Miriam so that she can inhabit her body for longer periods of time. What happens when she tries this with the shrine maidens?

1. She kills them.

2. She cannot try this with shrine maidens as part of their oath.

3. She cannot enter them because they are Sensitive.

4. She becomes too young.

2. Why are the yakuza at the club difficult to fight?

3. Why can’t Atsumori enter the hotel room initially?

4. Why is Iwanaga searching shrines?

5. What is unique about Yamauchi, Pixii’s mentor?

1. He is younger than Pixii.

2. He is also samurai.

3. He is a mountain god.

4. He is secretly yakuza.

6. Chapter 29 is called “Betrayal.” Who performs an act of betrayal and why?

7. What is important about the Gion festival?

Answers:

1. A

2. They are taunki.

3. A paper shade prevents him from doing so until Miriam tears it down.

4. She is looking for a shintai that can hold her.

5. C

6. Sato does when he shoots Chevalier. He does this because he has been in league with Iwanaga.

7. The festival is dedicated to Susanoo and may be a time when the spear is in motion and can be taken by Iwanaga, which would be dangerous.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions –

1. Why does Nikki struggle with the fact that the Japanese story of creation may contain true elements?

2. Why does one of the tanuki say that Nikki is too small a vessel to be useful to Atsumori? In the Nikki / Atsumori combination, what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? How do those weaknesses affect the success of their encounters?

3. Nikki finds out Atsumori’s background in Chapter 27. How does this information about Atsumori help Nikki (and us) understand his nature and personality? Why does it help explain his impatience with Kenichi?

4. Why does Nikki fear becoming addicted to her powers when Atsumori takes over?

5. Why is Atsumori’s opinion about humans different from Iwanaga’s?

6. Miriam encourages Nikki to write purposefully for important and immediate information, and this changes Nikki’s perception about her writing Talent. What does Miriam want her to do? Is Nikki able to change her process and help herself?

7. Why does Chevalier believe that love between Leo and Nikki changes everything?

8. Why does Iwanaga want the spear?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. What is the purpose of a myth? Compare other creation myths to the Japanese creation myth recounted in Chapter 26. What are some similarities and differences? How do the elements and values of each culture fit into those creation myths? A collection of creation stories can be found at http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSIndex.html .

2. Explore the possibilities of writing from multiple points of view. A great example is “The True Story of the Three Pigs” found at http://www.shol.com/agita/wolfside.htm. Pick a favorite story or a short piece and brainstorm all possible points of view the story could use. Choose one and write from that new point of view. Afterwards, reflect on changes to the story based on changes in point of view.

3. Here is an interview with a Hiroshima survivor at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwii/interview/trans.htm. Compare this survivor’s story to Sato’s account of the event. What do first person accounts of tragedies offer to us that is unique and valuable?

Guide to Chapters 31-35

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (words in italics can be found in the author glossary at the back of the book):

- Yoiyama

- Yamaboko Junko

- Mikoshi

- Noh actors

- Haiden

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- What takes place at a typical Gion festival?

- What does the phrase “needle in a haystack” mean? How does it apply to the task Nikki and others are taking on?

- How does a girl become a shrine maiden? How long does it last?

- The line “these are not the droids you are looking for” comes from Star Wars. What is the context for the line? Miriam will use this line in Chapter 35. Predict the context appropriate for such a moment.

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 31 – Nikki, Miriam, Atsumori, and Pixii head to the festival to find the spear and stop Iwanaga. While at a shrine, Inari appears and tells Nikki to leave. Atsumori obeys because he can tell that the spear is not at the shrine.

- Chapter 32 – At Lawson’s, Nikki and Atsumori find one of Iwanaga’s shrine maidens. She tells them that Iwanaga has not found the spear yet but continues to look. Atsumori makes the shrine maiden forget the encounter for their safety.

- Chapter 33 -- Nikki and Atsumori meet back with Miriam and Pixii. They wander the festival, exploring the floats as they search for the spear, and eventually check into a hotel for the night.

- Chapter 34 – Settled into the hotel, Nikki writes about Leo and discovers that Leo remains caged and needs water. She then organizes her thoughts and writings up to this point and realizes that all things point at Haru having possession of the spear. She writes from Haru’s perspective to confirm this and discovers that Susanoo hid the spear in Haru’s eye. Knowing that Haru planned to switch places with his twin brother, Nobu, she writes another scene. Something is going to attack Nobu.

- Chapter 35 – Nikki and her friends save Nobu and go to the parade to find his brother and the spear. In the streets, they fight tanuki, but the crowd mistakenly thinks it is part of the show and applauds. A tanuki retrieves the spear.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Why does Inari want Nikki to leave the shrine?

2. Who does Nikki encounter at Lawson’s?

1. Pixii.

2. One of Iwanaga’s shrine maidens.

3. cHer mother.

4. Leo.

3. Why did Atsumori want to kill Umeko?

4. What does Miriam mean when she says that the “Japanese acknowledge it’s all real”?

5. Why does Pixii say that Atsumori is all that is keeping Nikki “upright”?

6. What does Pixii bring to Nikki that shows she knows her friend well?

1. Hair ties.

2. Plum wine.

3. Notebooks.

4. Shoes.

7. By placing her ideas on the wall with Post-It notes, what does Nikki realize?

8. What is the supernatural explanation for the tsunami?

9. What does Nikki realize about her writing at the beginning of Chapter 35?

Answers:

1. He does not want Nikki and others to cause trouble and disturb his father.

2. B

3. He was afraid the shrine maiden would tell the goddess that Nikki and others were at the festival.

4. She means that the Japanese believe in ghosts and spirits.

5. As a medic, Pixii sees that Nikki is fatigued and needs rest. Atsumori’s powers are keeping Nikki walking, but Nikki needs to heal from being shot earlier.

6. C

7. She realizes that the twins are the center of the upcoming activity. This gives Nikki a focal point for her writing and for her later actions.

8. The supernatural explanation is that the Gion festival “went wrong” and did not banish the evil spirits that cause tsunamis and earthquakes.

9. She realizes she can change the ending because she saved Nobu.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions–

1. Why does Pixii say that Yamauchi is playing a “reality game” at an easy level, and that hers is much harder? Is life a game? If so, how does that view of life shape looking at the world?

2. Atsumori says that “to say a god’s name aloud is to call their attention to you.” What does he mean by this? Do you believe that names have that kind of power? Where else have you seen this idea?

3. Why does Iwanaga's sister compare the shrine maidens to blossoms? How does this comparison justify the way Iwanaga uses them? What would be another comparison that would serve the same purpose?

4. Why does Pixii think that belief can be dangerous? What are some real-life examples of the “danger of belief”?

5. How has Nikki gained more control over her writing process? What does this mean for her mental state?

6. How does Nikki’s belief that “people are like dominos” relate to the earlier ideas of moral proximity?

7. What lies behind the symbolism of making Haru the Chigo, or celestial child?

8. What does the “man” mean when he says that “the only way you can truly save someone is to let them save themselves”? What is the example in the story? What would some other examples be?

9. Why are the tanuki fighting on the side of Iwanaga?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Learn about other Japanese festivals at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_festivals and determine common elements at these festivals. If you were going to create a festival to honor a person, what would your festival look like? What events would you help? How would your choices show you are honoring that person?

2. Learn more about the close connection that twins, particularly identical twins, share. Some interesting facts about twins can be found at http://www.livescience.com/16466-twins-multiple-birthsfascinating-facts.html. What are some ways they communicate with each other? Why are they so close? Compare this to the differences presented in Horu and Nobu. Why select Horu to be the celestial child?

3. Nikki learns in this section that she can change the outcome of her stories. What is one event in your life you wish you could change? How would you change it? How would changing that event change everything? This is a dilemma often faced in science fiction when writing about time travel. What should be some rules about time travel and why?

Guide to Chapters 36-40

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms (terms in italics can be found in the author’s glossary in the back of the novel):

- Jorgumo yokai

- Kinmata

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the term “Mommie Dearest,” and brainstorm how this title could be an apt allusion to Nikki’s mother.

- Perform a thought experiment: if you could go back in time and rewrite a piece of history, what element of history would you change? What other historical moments would have to alter because of it?

- Find out more about Pearl Harbor. What happened there, and why would Sato refer to it when talking to Nikki?

- Learn more about Lilo and Stitch. What about their situation corresponds to the novel so far? Why would someone want to quote from that film?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 36 – Nikki writes more about Leo and discovers that he is being interviewed by her mother, Laverne, who works for Shiva and is the head of the U.S. branch. Angry and looking for answers, Nikki writes from the perspective of her mother. In doing so, Nikki learns that her grandmother had the same Talent that emerged through writing, and that Laverne committed her mother so no one would know that Laverne killed her father, who had molested her. To keep that secret, Laverne killed her mother.

- Chapter 37 – Nikki confronts her mother at a shrine. While there, she sees Williams and fills him in on Sato’s betrayal and the plans of Iwanaga.

- Chapter 38 – Nikki goes with Williams to Shiva and sees Leo in his animal form in a cage. After talking to him and reassuring him that Simon was safe, Nikki must wait in a temporary cell. While there, she writes and learns that Sato is coming for her. Locked in, she can do nothing but wait for him to find her and hurt her.

- Chapter 39 – Nikki awakens after being drugged and finds herself in a car with Sato. On the bridge to the heavens, Nikki fights Sato and wins. When faced with Iwanaga and the spear, Nikki shows the kami the shintai made by Yamauchi. Iwanaga agrees to enter the shintai and be transported to the place she desires.

- Chapter 40 – Nikki finds Leo, and together they return to Susanoo’s shrine and give Inari the shintai holding Iwanaga. News of Nikki’s mother’s death becomes public. Leo and Nikki finally find time to be alone together. Simon and Leo reunite at Yamauchi’s home.

Quiz / Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice / short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. How does Leo try to continue to protect Nikki during his interrogation?

2. What does Nikki discover when she writes about her mother?

3. What does Nikki’s mother fear most?

1. That Nikki will work for Shiva.

2. That Nikki will expose her as a murderer.

3. That Nikki will form a relationship with Leo.

4. That Nikki will not leave Japan.

4. Why does Nikki choose a shrine as a place to confront her mother?

5. Why does Nikki hesitate to leave the katana on the shelf before seeing Leo?

6. Why does Nikki believe Williams when he said she could go free when this was over?

1. She believes he has honest eyes.

2. She does not have much choice.

3. She has written from his perspective and knows he means what he says.

4. She has written out the ending of the situation and knows Williams will not be around to deter her from leaving.

7. Why does Nikki hide paper and a pen on her body?

8. What does Nikki sneak to Leo to help him go free?

1. A key card.

2. A blade.

3. A screwdriver.

4. A gun.

9. How does Nikki kill the spider woman?

10. Nikki gives the shintai to:

1. Leo.

2. Williams.

3. Atsumori.

4. Inari.

11. Why does Nikki want to go to Louisiana when this is all over?

Answers:

1. He claims that all of Nikki’s actions are the result of being possessed by Atsumori. This makes it unclear as to whether or not Nikki has any powers of her own.

2. She discovers that her mother knows her Talent is real. She also learns that her mother killed two people and has been keeping Nikki medicated and institutionalized so that Nikki would not discover this and expose her.

3. B

4. Her mother is touring shrines thinking that Atsumori is choosing where they go, and he would pick holy ground.

5. She feels more confident with Atsumori’s presence.

6. C

7. Nikki knows that she may feel compelled to write and wants a way to do so if Shiva takes her backpack.

8. A

9. She writes “die” on the monster's arm in blood.

10. D

11. She wants to visit the site of an earlier piece of writing to see if there is truly a demon there who needs to be handled.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions–

1. Why does Nikki believe that her mother betrayed her to protect herself? Do you believe Nikki is correct to believe this? Why or why not?

2. Why does Atsumori say to Nikki that “this anger will destroy you”? Do you believe that anger can be a destructive force? Why or why not? What would be some examples?

3. Nikki and Atsumori develop a strong relationship. In what ways have they learned to work together? How have they changed over the course of the novel?

4. Atsumori says that he learned “the mind is the greatest weapon.” What does he mean by that? What would be some examples?

5. What does Sato mean when he says “The best way to remake the world is to completely level the old one first”? Why does this outlook explain his choices in the novel?

6. Nikki tries to identify with Iwanaga in order to dissuade her. What do they have in common? How successful was she in this attempt?

7. Why does Nikki feel she can guarantee an outcome to Iwanaga? Do you believe she is correct in this assumption? Why or why not?

8. What does Miriam mean when she tells Nikki that she is free? Why does this idea overwhelm Nikki?

9. Why did Nikki rewrite elements of her past?

10. Do you believe Nikki wrote the best outcome for herself? Why or why not?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Nikki’s writing process continues to change. How so in this final section? How has the information she has learned important to her confidence in her Talent?

2. Read the story of the creation of man that Sato alludes to at http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~cycle/MyKONOHE.HTML and compare it to Sato’s account. Afterwards, write your own creation story for man. Be sure to include, as this myth does, a symbol or element in the process that explains why humans are the way they are.

3. Nikki wants to return to America to the site of an earlier piece of writing now that she no longer has to worry about hiding from her mother. Over time, many people have told aboutsupernatural experiences throughout America. Read about some of those accounts at http://www.history.com/topics/historical-ghost-stories and then share your favorite one. Afterwards, create your own supernatural explanation for an event in American history.

4. Final reflection: Nikki reconciles herself to her hypergraphia when she learns that her writing contains information about real life events that she can tap into and shape into a better end. By doing so, she must accept that she now sees the world in a different way, as she did not believe in supernatural elements earlier in the novel. Describe a belief you had to abandon or modify over time. What was the old belief? Why did that belief need to change? What do you believe now?

For more Teacher’s Guides to great Baen books, please visit Baen.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

Teacher’s Guide to Rising Sun

The A Few Good Men Reader’s Group Discussion Guide

Teacher’s Guide to Eight Million Gods by Wen Spencer