The Jay

Who is the author

• Yasunari Kawabata

• Kawabata Yasunari

• Kawabata Masunari

• None of the above

What is the setting

• Grandmother's house and garden

• Japan

• morning

• neighbor's house

What are the characters?

• Grandmother

• younger brother

• Yoshiko

• Yoshiko's father and stepmother

• Yoshiko's mother

What is the conflict of the story?

What are the symbols in the story?

• Mother and baby bird symbolize hope or unconditional love.

• Baby bird represents Yoshiko because she is separated from her parents.

• Mother bird represents the grandmother

• The red kimono symbolizes love and passion.

What do their different responses to the jay suggest about the members of this family?

“The Jay” begins with a jay singing loudly. Grandmother explains that the bird is “looking for its child” and then says, “But what a good mother. This morning she came right back to look.”

• a. Humans can learn from nature.

• b. Human health can benefit from nature.

• c. Human progress puts nature at risk.

• d. Humanity and nature are interdependent.

Yoshiko’s father is furious when her brother finds a picture of their mother. Which inference does the father’s reaction BEST support?

• a. Yoshiko’s mother did something wrong.

• b. Yoshiko’s mother wants to be part of her children’s lives.

• c. Yoshiko’s father was deeply hurt by her mother.

• d. Yoshiko and her brother resemble their mother.

What possible theme is conveyed by conflicts between Yoshiko’s father and brother?

• a. Children repeatedly defy their parents.

• b. External pressures weaken family bonds.

• c. Parents resist their children’s efforts to become independent.

• d. Family members can fail to live up to each other’s expectations.

Read the excerpt.

Yoshiko wished that her father and stepmother would come soon. She would like to show them this, she thought.

Why does Yoshiko want to show her father and stepmother the reunited jays?

• a. She hopes the couple will be proud of her and decide to stay.

• b. She wants the couple to see how a loving family should behave.

• c. She needs the couple to welcome her mother back into their lives.

• d. She thinks the couple will understand that she doesn’t need to marry to be happy.