Seventh Man

In “The Seventh Man,” which statement best summarizes what happens in the

weeks following K.’s death?

• He falls ill and has nightmares.

• He moves to Nagano

• He starts attending a different school.

• He spends hours studying K.’s artwork

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Which excerpt from “The Seventh Man” best explains why the seventh man

feels responsible for K.’s death?

• He might have been so absorbed in whatever it was he had found that my

  call made no impression on him.

• I stood there, wondering what to do. Should I go down to the beach?

• I had always loved and protected K. as if he had been my own little

  brother.

• I probably could have run over and dragged him out of the reach of the

  wave.

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In “The Seventh Man,” why does the seventh man’s view of the past begin to

change?

• Studying K.’s art, he remembers that K. was gentle and realizes that his

  last look was not one of hatred.

• After his father dies, he returns home and realizes that he did not need to

  move to Nagano.

• Studying K.’s art, he realizes that K. would not have minded dying in the

  wave.

• Ater his father dies, he realizes that it was the second wave, not the first,

  that killed K

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Part A What does the giant wave most clearly represent to the seventh man?

• It represents death, which causes hatred among people

• It represents art, which can capture the spirit of nature

• IT represents our fears, which keep us from doing what we should

• It represents nature, which is both beautiful and awe-inspiring.

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Part B Which passage from the text most clearly supports the answer to

Part A?

• I knew that the wave was coming, and K. didn’t know. As clearly as I

  knew what I ought to be doing, I found myself running the other way. . . .

  What made me do this, I’m sure, was fear

• But it was too late. A wave like a huge snake with its head held high,

  poised to strike, was racing toward the shore. I had never seen anything

  like it before.

• In the tip of the [second] wave, as if enclosed in some kind of transparent

  capsule, floated K.’s body, reclining on its side. But that’s not all. K. was

  looking straight at me, smiling.

• Most of [K.’s pictures] were landscapes, pictures of the familiar stretch of

  ocean and sand beach and pine woods and the town, and all done with

  that special clarity and coloration I knew so well from K.’s hand.

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Which of the following is a key difference between the frame story and the

story within the frame story in “The Seventh Man”?

• The frame story is told in the third person, and the interior story is told in

  the first person

• The frame story is told in the first person, and the interior story is told in

  the third person.

• The frame story is set in the past, and the interior story is set in the

  present.

• The frame story is set in a future world, and the interior story is set in the

  present.

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What did the man decide to do to overcome the tragedy of his friend?

• He burned K's paintings

• He never came to his hometown

• He went to the same beach where K dissapeared

• He got married

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In “The Seventh Man,” what is the most important discovery that the seventh man makes when he returns to his hometown?

• He realizes that K. was a gentle and artistic soul.

• He learns that his father has died of cancer.

• He sees that the town remains the same as when he was a boy.

• He realizes that the dark shadow of K.’s death has left him.

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When the narrator begins to tell his story, he introduces it in this way:

“In my case, it was a wave,” he said. “There is no way for me to tell, of course, what it will be for each of you. But in my case it just happened to take the form of a gigantic wave. It presented itself to me all of a sudden one day without warning. And it was devastating.”

What does the narrator’s comment most clearly imply? To help you choose your answer, consider the events of the story.

• He believes that in life, every individual must confront fear in some form or another.

• He believes that his life was changed by a disaster in a way that others cannot understand.

• He believes that he has succeeded despite not knowing what will happen to others.

• He believes that in life, everyone will face the risk of a giant wave caused by a storm.

Answer explanation

The part of the narrator's comment that most clearly supports the answer is, “There is no way for me to tell … what it will be for each of you.”

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At the end of the story, the narrator says that if we “turn our backs on” fear, “we take the most precious thing inside us and surrender it to something else.” What does he most likely mean by these statements?

• If we avoid our fear, we will lose our lives to a natural force such as a storm.

• If we avoid our fear, then we give the fear power over ourselves and lose our freedom.

• If we do not respect our fear, then we will need to surrender to our enemies.

• If we do not respect our fear, then others will surrender their respect for us.

Answer explanation

"The Seventh Man" illustrates this statement in this way: Fear of the wave makes the seventh man run away instead of saving his friend.

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