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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 does Reiko think Naoko is doing while she is showing Toru around the compound?

2. Where does Toru tell the dorm head that he is going when he leaves for Ami Hostel?

3. What does Reiko teach?

4. What other living thing did Toru and Naoko see that day in the meadow?

5. What does Naoko think would happen if you fell into the hidden well?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was Toru's dorm room different from most of the others?

2. Why does Naoko say it would be wrong for her to stay with Toru all the time?

3. What causes the narrator to feel dizzy in the opening scene of the novel?

4. How did Toru and Naoko celebrate her twentieth birthday?

5. How does Naoko describe the conditions in which she writes her letter to Toru?

6. What does Nagasawa tell Toru are his reasons for wanting to join the Foreign Ministry?

7. What did Naoko tell Toru in the letter she sent him in July 1969?

8. How did Storm Trooper affect Toru and Naoko's plans in January 1969?

9. Describe Nagasawa.

10. Describe Toru's roommate.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using several examples, discuss how Murakami uses the recurring motif of a group of three characters throughout the novel to develop Toru's character.

Essay Topic 2

One of the motifs Murakami uses in his novel to represent the disconnect between society and individuals is unexplained suicide. Explain how he uses this motif to enhance the theme(s) of his novel.

Essay Topic 3

How does the title of the novel, "Norwegian Wood," represent the text?

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