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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 May Kasahara invite Toru Okada to do the following day in Chapter 5?

2. What remembrance from the dead Honda does Lieutenant Mamiya give Toru Okada at the end of Chapter 13?

3. In Chapter 11, Toru Okada is surprised to find packaging for what in his waste-basket?

4. For what does May Kasahara castigate Toru Okada in Chapter 5?

5. What animal inhabits the disgusting island that is the subject of Toru Okada's metaphorical story in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Koru and Kumiko Okada meet with Mr. Honda?

2. What does Noboru Wataya want to say to Toru Okada in Chapter 3?

3. How does May Kasahara describe her situation in Chapter 5?

4. What information does Malt Kano provide Toru Okada in their first meeting in Chapter 3?

5. Why are the Okadas estranged from the Watayas?

6. How does Kumiko explain her own disappearance in her letter of Chapter 11?

7. Why is Lieutenant Mamiya uncomfortable with his mission with Yanamoto?

8. What happens when Toru goes to the appointed address in Chapter 4?

9. What two requests does Creta Kano make of Toru Okada in Chapter 14 and how does he respond?

10. Describe Nutmeg.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Perhaps the most central theme of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is the interconnectedness of humanity and the impossibility of escaping said interconnectedness. Write an essay about several characters' attempts to distance themselves from humanity and how they are pulled back:

Part 1) Why does Kumiko try to alienate herself from her family? How does she go about doing this, and how is she pulled back into the Wataya sphere? To what extent is Kumiko destroyed emotionally and existentially by her return to her family?

Part 2) Why does May Kasahara choose to leave Tokyo, and where does she go? Is this flight indicative of a desire to be separated from the society at large? Who is the only person with whom she maintains communication? How does she rediscover her interconnectedness with society?

Part 3) How is Toru Okada the definition of social alienation at the beginning of the novel? Who does he have in his life, and what does he do with his days? Write out the steps by which he leaves his house and accepts other into his life.

Essay Topic 2

Dreams play a key role in the advancing of plot in Murakami's novel. Write an essay, discussing the role that dreams play in Toru Okada's journey. Who does he meet while in a dream state? What new information does he gain from these dreams? Write a paragraph about each type of dream the Toru has over the course of the novel. As a conclusion, discuss whether the dream-world of the novel has any concrete bearing on the waking world.

Essay Topic 3

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a n example of magical realist literature. In it, the fantastical and the realistic intermingle without indication that this is strange in any way. Write an essay about this intermingling, using Toru Okada as a surrogate for the reader. What fantastical events does Toru experience, and how does he react to them? Is he shocked, or are they seamlessly integrated into the rest of his life? What function do these events serve in his day to day existence?

(see the answer keys)

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