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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. In what month was Toru's birthday?

2. What does Nagasawa tell Toru is his "standard of action"?

3. Which of these sports does Naoko play with other patients and staff?

4. What did Naoko and Toru routinely do on their weekly "dates"?

5. What game did Kizuki and Toru play the day Kizuki died?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Naoko describe her basketball team?

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

3. Describe Toru's roommate.

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

5. How does Toru spend the summer break?

6. How do Toru's living arrangements change after summer break?

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

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

9. Why does Naoko get angry at Toru in the meadow?

10. What sorts of things do Naoko and her fellow patients do for entertainment at the hostel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the themes of this novel is the superficiality of things and people and the world. Discuss how Murakami develops this theme in "Norwegian Wood."

Essay Topic 2

Toru falls in love with two girls: Midori and Naoko. Compare and contrast these two characters.

Essay Topic 3

Toru's connection to many of the other characters in the novel is based on a shared experience with death. Please choose at least one other character and discuss how this connection affects the relationship.

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