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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 is the name of Kafka's father?

2. How does the police officer react when Nakata admits to Johnny Walker's murder?

3. What is the name of the young boy who did NOT awaken after the mushroom incident in the woods?

4. Who prophesies that fish will fall from the sky?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Who is Sakura?

3. What trade did Nakata learn when he was in elementary school?

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

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

6. What happens when Kafka wakes from a blackout at a religious shrine?

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

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

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

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

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 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)

This section contains 803 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample