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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of animal takes up residence in Kino's bar after he opens it but before other customers start to arrive?
(a) A cat.
(b) A dog.
(c) A snake.
(d) A mouse.

2. The narrator describes truly happy families as occurring as frequently as what other phenomenon?
(a) Perfect games in backgammon.
(b) Living longer than one's spouse.
(c) Finding a needle in a haystack.
(d) Hat tricks in soccer.

3. The ceiling overhead the bald man when he sits at his favorite and only spot in Kino's establishment has what characteristics?
(a) It is slanted and low.
(b) It is high and sterile.
(c) It is covered in vines.
(d) It is yellow and glaring.

4. How often does Scheherazade come to see Habara?
(a) Once a week.
(b) Twice a week.
(c) Every day.
(d) Twice a month.

5. How does the narrator of "An Independent Organ" describe the level of success enjoyed by Dr. Tokai's medical practice?
(a) Booming business.
(b) Mountains of debt.
(c) Breaking even.
(d) Dwindling prospects.

Short Answer Questions

1. How had Dr. Tokai acquired his medical practice?

2. About the same time as the bar's unofficial mascot disappears, what other types of creatures does Kino start to see outside of his bar?

3. How many of his own former lives does Habara tell Scheherazade that he can recall?

4. To Habara's amazement, Scheherazade tells him that she can recall what phase of her life?

5. For how long had Dr. Tokai been seeing the married woman before he had fallen in love with her?

Short Essay Questions

1. The unnamed narrator of the story "An Independent Organ" presents Dr. Tokai as an example of what type of person?

2. What is Dr. Tokai's eventual fate?

3. What type of doctor is Dr. Tokai and how does his job relate to his preferred habits regarding dating?

4. In what way is foreshadowing employed within the narrator's memory of his last conversation with Dr. Tokai?

5. How does the theme of appearance versus reality emerge within the stories that Scheherazade tells to Habara?

6. How does Kino come to own a bar and what had he done for work prior to the purchase?

7. What elements are listed within Habara's list of the only "personal information [Scheherazade] had volunteered" (117)?

8. How is vivid imagery employed within Scheherazade's depiction of her former life as a lamprey eel?

9. What is the symbolism inherent in Kino's bar?

10. Discuss the significance of Murakami's use of a simile to describe the moment when Dr. Tokai falls in love.

(see the answer keys)

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