View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What career path made Adolf Eichmann famous?

2. Which of the following adjectives best describes Hoshino's speech?

3. How many of the children failed to awaken after reaching the hospital?

4. Which of the following items is NOT something Kafka steals from his father before running away?

5. Where does Oshima find Kafka a place to sleep?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Kafka provide to Sakura about his sister?

2. How does Johnny Walker entice Nakata to kill him?

3. How does the police officer on duty react to Nakata's confession of stabbing a man to death?

4. What happened to all of Nakata's money after he lost his job?

5. What are the themes of the song "Kafka on the Shore"?

6. Who is Sakura?

7. How does Kafka react to the presence of the young woman's spirit in his bedroom?

8. Who is Adolf Eichmann, and what note did Oshima scribble in the margins of his book?

9. What hypothesis does Doctor Shigenori Tsukayama make about what happened to the school children in the woods?

10. What happened to the man that Mrs. Saeki fell in love with as a teenager?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, Oshima states that "imagination is a powerful force". First, explain what Oshima means by this statement. Then, explain how imagination leaves Kafka feeling emotionally responsible for two terrible events that occur, even though he is not physically responsible for them.

Essay Topic 2

The face of evil took many different forms in this novel - Johnny Walker, Colonel Sanders, and the white salamander. First, describe how each of these creatures embodied the force of evil. Then, explain why each of these beings was so intent on opening the entrance stone.

Essay Topic 3

There are many talking animals in this novel. First, create a list of animal characters and explain their role within the novel. Then, discuss your reaction to the presence of talking animals in an adult novel. Was their integration into the storyline successful? Why or why not? How does their presence make this novel fit into the genre of magical realism?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 827 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample