Length: 4 pages, double spaced
–Outside references are not required. If you do consult any additional articles or text, cite that information in your paper and on your Works Cited list. 
–Format: MLA 
–Use a minimum of three well-chosen quotations from the text to support your claims and observations. Cite page numbers. 
–Use basic essay structure: Intro, body paragraphs, Conclusion.
–Your essay should contain a clear thesis sentence that answers your prompt questions somewhere near the beginning of your essay. 
–All quotations should include clear context and a signal phrase to introduce them. 
–You may write using first person if you like. 
Write an essay in which you answer one of the following prompts: 
1. Why is Kazu considered a tragic figure? What life experiences or personality traits account for his tragic life? 
2. How is the subject of grief brought to life in this story? Where does grief appear? What forms does it take? 
3. Yu Miri paints a portrait of the lives of homeless people in Tokyo. What does she want her readers to know about these fictional people? 
4. The setting, Tokyo Ueno Station and the park that surrounds it, is a vital part of this novel. One might argue that the setting becomes, in a way, a character, too. What do you think Yu Miri wants to us to know about the significance of this specific place, or even the significance of place, in general?
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