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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. The first line of the story Scheherazade uses what two adjectives to describe the stories Habara's "support liaison" (121) tells him?

2. How many of his own former lives does Habara tell Scheherazade that he can recall?

3. The narrator states that Dr. Tokai had always kept his distance from women who expressed interest in what?

4. To what work is Habara alluding when he decides to refer privately to his support liaison as Scheherazade?

5. What adjective is used to describe the wedding presents Dr. Tokai buys for his paramours when they get married to another man?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Dr. Tokai's eventual fate?

2. Describe Scheherazade's routine upon arriving at Habara's house twice per week.

3. How does the theme of appearance versus reality emerge within the stories that Scheherazade tells to Habara?

4. How is vivid imagery employed within Scheherazade's depiction of her former life as a lamprey eel?

5. What are Kino's feelings toward his ex-wife and her lover, who had also been Kino's colleague?

6. What is the symbolism inherent in Kino's bar?

7. The unnamed narrator of the story "An Independent Organ" presents Dr. Tokai as an example of what type of person?

8. Around the time Kino's cat disappears, what other creatures begins to show up outside of the bar and what do they symbolize?

9. Dr. Tokai describes himself to the narrator using what two adjectives?

10. Discuss the significance of Murakami's use of a simile to describe the moment when Dr. Tokai falls in love.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Haruki Murakami's short story collection Men Without Women from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Murakami's heavy use of allusion throughout the short story collection Men Without Women.

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Kino’s character throughout the story entitled Kino. Within your greater argument, discuss whether Kino is a round or flat character and whether he is a static or dynamic character.

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