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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 does the librarian say the unicorn skull was lost while recounting the story of Professor Petrov in Chapter 9?

2. What does the Gatekeeper say the narrator will see if he climbs the Watchtower?

3. What does the chubby girl say her grandfather claims will happen if the narrator doesn't get up at the beginning of Chapter 17?

4. What do the scientists compare the mind to in explaining the use of his consciousness to the narrator in Chapter 11?

5. How does the Librarian feel about the Pool?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Colonel tell the narrator about the Woods and the Woodspeople in Chapter 14?

2. Why does the Professor say in Chapter 25 that he gave the narrator the data to shuffle with the terminal program?

3. What does the Colonel tell the narrator about the beasts' death in Chapter 20?

4. How does the narrator imagine his retirement in Chapter 13?

5. What does the narrator's conversation with the Librarian about where he came from tell the reader about the nature of the Town?

6. Describe the process for reading dreams.

7. What does Junior tell the narrator to tell the System about their visit and the wound? Why?

8. Briefly describe the memory the narrator has while climbing the underground tower with the chubby girl.

9. Describe where the narrator's shadow lives.

10. Describe the Colonel and his relationship to the narrator.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using the death of the beasts, the death of shadows and the prospect of the Tokyo narrator's own death as examples, explain how Murakami presents the theme of mortality in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Describe what happens when the Tokyo narrator remembers his shadow on the movie screen while underground and explain the significance of this event has for the narrator.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 37, the narrator says he was born by the sea and liked to collect things washed on shore by the typhoon. He says his life has always been about "gathering up the junk, sorting through it, and then casting it off somewhere else. All for no purpose...". Explain how the narrator's current life is this way and draw parallels between this and the people in the Town.

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