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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where on Noboru Wataya's body does Toru land a blow first?

2. What sound awakens Toru at the end of Chapter 37?

3. Who rescues Toru from the well in Chapter 37?

4. What mystical being does Ushikawa liken himself to in Chapter 15?

5. Whose voice does Toru Okada hear at the beginning of Chapter 34?

Short Essay Questions

1. That is Nutmeg's concern in Chapter 24?

2. How does Nutmeg's marriage end in Chapter 20?

3. How does Lieutenant Mamiya meet Boris the Manskinner for the second time?

4. How does May Kasahar's worldview change in Chapter 36?

5. What problem does Ushikawa admit with Kumiko's meeting Toru, and how does he solve it in Chapter 19?

6. How does May Kasahara express her attitude to her wigs in Chapter 15?

7. Why is Toru content in Chapter 25?

8. What does the tabloid in Chapter 21 determine about the dummy corporation that owns the hanging house?

9. What does the boy in Chapter 11 find in the bag and what does he do with it?

10. What new offer does Ushikawa make to Toru Okada in Chapter 16?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A major theme of Murakami's novel is personal reinvention, and this reinvention is often made most explicit in characters who choose to rename themselves and others. Write an essay about characters in the novel who choose to change names, focusing on three instances. What events transpire that precipitate this change? What is the nature of the change? Is the change permanent? Conclude each paragraph by stating the essential thematic purpose for this change in name.

Part 1) Toru Okada, when speaking with May Kasahara.

Part 2) Malta and Creta Kano.

Part 3) Toru Okada's cat.

Essay Topic 2

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a vast menagerie of different storylines and themes. One theme that lingers beneath the surface of the central narrative is the legacy of the Second World War and its psychically wounding effect. Write an essay about the war's place in the novel, in two parts below:

Part 1) Write a paragraph about the veterinarian and his days in the Chinese zoo as the allies approach. How do the few events mentioned in the book about this man indicate an absurd force driving the war? What does Murakami mean to get across about the war by the fact that these stories are told by two characters that never fought in World War Two?

Part 2) Write a paragraph about the war stories of Lieutenant Mamiya. To what extent does Mamiya's narrative illustrate the brutal realities of war? How have these experiences affected Mamiya is the War's end? How are they a counterpoint to the stories of the veterinarian?

Essay Topic 3

In the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the central protagonist is Toru Okada, but the character of May Kasahara provides a tertiary plot-line that mirrors Toru's. Write an essay about May Kasahara's story. What adversity does she face, and how did this come about? Thematically, how is her story similar to Toru Okada's? What is the nature of her alienation, and how does she overcome it? Conclude the essay by explaining how May's story ends similarly to Toru's.

(see the answer keys)

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