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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. How many letters did Toru send to Naoko?

2. What does Toru have for lunch in the dining hall?

3. What movie does Toru go to see by himself?

4. How many pages did Naoko send in her letter?

5. Which of these things is not something the patients at Ami Hostel do in the evenings?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Nagasawa.

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

3. What is Midori's job?

4. How does the dining hall at Ami Hostel compare to the dining hall at Toru's dormitory?

5. How did Toru feel about joining Nagasawa's womanizing expeditions?

6. How did Toru become friends with Nagasawa?

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

8. Why does the narrator, Toru, say that memory is such a funny thing as he describes the scene he remembers from the meadow?

9. Describe Toru's roommate.

10. Describe the day Kizuki died.

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

In addition to the connection between the mind and the body, Murakami explores the difference between living totally in one's mind and living totally in the outside system of the world. Using at least two characters as examples, discuss the author's development of this idea throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the physical, emotional, and metaphorical journey that Toru takes when he visits Naoko at the sanatorium and the effect it has on his character and his relationship with Naoko.

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