Snow Falling on Cedars Study Guide

1. What is the charge against Kabuo Miyamoto?

• Third degree murder
• First degree murder
• Grand larceny
• Second degree murder

2. How is Ishmael different from the other reporters in the courtroom?

• He is a local
• He is excited about the trial
• He takes off his jacket
• He drinks excessively

3. What about the body of Carl Heines provokes suspicion?

• The weight of the body
• The eyes
• The wound on the left side of his head
• The fact that he was caught in his own net

4. After whom does Carl Heine name his boat the Susan Marie?

• His eldest daughter
• His mother
• A childhood lover
• His wife

5. Who founded the San Piedro Review?

• Alvin Hook
• Ishmael Chambers
• Arthur Chambers
• Carl Heine

6. Why does Horace Whaley suspect that a Japanese man injured Carl Heine?

• He knows that the Japanese community dislikes him
• The injury on his head is similar to that made by a kendo maneuver
• Carl Heine's wife is Japanese
• The sea was full of Japanese fishermen at the time

7. What does the presence of foam in Carl Heine's mouth indicate?

• He had been breathing when he hit the water
• He had been drinking too much alcohol the night of his death
• He had been struck in the head
• His blood type was rare

8. What does Horace Whaley discover on Carl Heine's hand?

• A hangnail
• A large cut
• A wedding ring
• A leech

9. What does Susan Marie do when she learns of Carl Heine's death?

• She sits on the bottom stair in her house
• She screams at her three sons
• She sells the house
• She brews tea

10. Why do the Japanese sit in the back of the courtroom?

• Because it is warmer in the back
• Because it is illegal for them to sit in the front
• Because they are weeping
• Because it is socially compelled