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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. What did the elementary school teacher use to wipe away her blood while out with the children in the woods?

2. How many children were found unconscious in the woods by their elementary school teacher?

3. How does Nakata kill Johnny Walker?

4. What is the name of the library where Mrs. Saeki works?

5. What does Oshima warn Kafka about the woods surrounding his cabin?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what state does Oshima find Kafka when he returns to the cabin to bring Kafka home?

2. How does Kafka react when Sakura begins telling him about her boyfriend, who lives in Tokyo?

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

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

5. What advice does Crow give to Kafka before they run away together?

6. What unusual prophecy does Nakata make before leaving the police station?

7. Who is Hoshino, and why does he decide to take Nakata on the road with him?

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

9. What happened to the elementary school teacher and her class in November, 1944?

10. What conclusion did Doctor Nakazawa reach after testing the sixteen school children found unconscious in the woods?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Both Kafka and Nakata are inexplicably drawn to Southern Japan in search of healing. First, describe the circumstances that draws each man away from his home. Then, compare / contrast the relief each man finds upon finally reaching his destination.

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

Throughout the text, Oshima is a wealth of literary knowledge. Choose at least two literary works that Oshima discusses, and explain what he teaches Kafka about each work. Then, explain what Oshima means when he says that "there is such a thing as metaphor in the corporeal world." How does this statement apply to the novel as a whole?

(see the answer keys)

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