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 is Nakata's favorite food?

2. What is the name of Kafka's imaginary companion?

3. Which famous artist is discovered stabbed to death in his home on the day fish fall from the sky?

4. When Kafka wakes up in the middle of a blackout, where has he sleepwalked to?

5. When Kafka wakes from his blackout, what is he covered in?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what situation is it possible for a body and soul to become separated without the body dying?

2. What does Hoshino do during the time that Nakata sleeps at their hotel?

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

4. What confession does Oshima make when the stern women accuse him of being misogynistic?

5. What strange proposition does Johnny Walker make to Nakata?

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

7. How does Kafka spend his first day of freedom in the city?

8. What regimen does Kafka adopt and exercise everyday that he is away from home?

9. What is Goma?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the entrance stone is turned, it draws together two wandering souls - Mrs. Saeki and Nakata. First, describe the lives Mrs. Saeki and Nakata had been living before the stone was turned. Then, explain how Mrs. Saeki and Nakata complete each other, and what the effects of their final meeting were.

Essay Topic 2

The woods surrounding Oshima's cabin are a place of great wonder to Kafka. First, explain Kafka's initial reaction to the woods and explain how his opinion of this place changed throughout the course of the novel. Then, give at least two examples of lessons Kafka learned about nature due to the time he spent in Oshima's woods.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 788 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample