Week 4

“The Bears of Nametoko”
1. Compare the relationships between “Kojuro and the bears” and “Kojuro and the shopkeeper in town”.
2. What do you think “the ceremony” at the end represents?
3. Who do you think “I”, the narrator is?

“In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom”
1. How do you interpret “he found himself thinking that the sky would fall” (p.201)?
2. Explain this excerpt; “Even now, no one knows that secret of the cherry forest in full bloom. Perhaps it was loneliness” (p.205).