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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. Topographically, where is the town in which May Kasahara is working in Chapter 5?

2. How did May Kasahara cause her boyfriend's death?

3. Why did Creta Kano couple with Toru in his dream?

4. What does May Kasahara do before leaving the well at the end of Chapter 9?

5. What does Malta Kano assure Toru Okada that he will find at the end of their meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. What financial decision does Toru Okada make at the beginning of Book 3?

2. Why is a local tabloid so concerned with the the Miyawaki house in Chapter 7?

3. Describe the marital tiff the Okada's have as related in Chapter 9?

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

5. How does pain return to Creta Kano's life?

6. Why does Toru Okada choose to go into the well behind the old Miyawaki house?

7. What strange event happens involving a bar folk singer in Chapter 7?

8. Why does Creta Kano become a prostitute?

9. How does the infant Nutmeg nearly killed in the story of Chapter 9?

10. What does the unnamed boy see in Chapter 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Haruki Murakami's novels almost always involve grown men who have not fully developed emotionally and several strong-willed women who force them to question their world-views. Write an essay about Toru Okada's relationship with the women of the novel. How is Toru's emotional growth stunted at the beginning of the novel? What shattering event forces him from his torpor at the beginning of the novel? Choose three women who enter his life after this event and discuss their relationship to him.

Essay Topic 2

Much of the important action of the novel, including the climax, occurs not in the real world, but in dreams and in a sort of metaphysical hotel. Write an essay about these events that occur in a sub- or supernatural world, focusing on three of them:

Part 1) When Creta Kano appears to Toru Okada, and the two have sex, how is this more than a mere erotic dream? Why does it affect both of them in their waking lives? In analyzing this sexual encounter, explain what Creta Kano's profession is, and how it relates. Why does she come to Toru's dream?

Part 2) Write a paragraph describing Toru Okada's first trip to the metaphysical hotel. What is he doing in the real, waking world that allows him entry? When Toru emerges, what has changed about him? Is this change emotional or physical?

Part 3) Describe the climax of the novel as it takes place in the hotel. What very real dangers does Toru Okada face and what achievement does he have in his conflict with Noboru Wataya? What does he understand by the end? How are his actions in the hotel reflected in his waking life?

Essay Topic 3

The world of Murakami's novel is one in which the spiritually powerful are revered. No one questions the validity of their abilities. In an essay, write about three spiritual seers/healers. What is their place in the plot, and how do they become necessary to other people's lives? With whom in the novel does each interact, and what service do they perform? Is each character viewed by the reader as benevolent or dangerous?

Part 1) Mr. Honda.

Part 2) Malta Kano.

Part 3) Nutmeg.

(see the answer keys)

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