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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. Who pointedly ceases coming to the Residence in Chapter 29?

2. In Chapter 10, May Kasahara's boss tells her that genes determine what percentage of whether someone will go bald?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 25, why is Toru heartened by his life?

4. What information has Kumiko just received in Chapter 38?

5. In Chapter 13, what does Noboru Wataya offer to do for Toru if he gives up his new property?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the tabloid in Chapter 21 determine about the dummy corporation that owns the hanging house?

2. How does Nutmeg's marriage end in Chapter 20?

3. How does May Kasahara express her attitude to her wigs in Chapter 15?

4. What sad reality does May Kasahara admit to in Chapter 18's letter?

5. What two bits of strange information does Malta Kano provide Toru in Chapter 30?

6. How does Lieutenant Mamiya meet Boris the Manskinner for the second time?

7. What questions about The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle does Toru have in Chapter 27?

8. Why is Toru content in Chapter 25?

9. What new offer does Ushikawa make to Toru Okada in Chapter 16?

10. Describe Cinnamon.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami juxtaposes the fantastical with a sort of general malaise that permeates modern Japanese society. Write an essay about this general malaise, describing how it manifests itself in the business world, in politics, and in popular culture. How do both Toru Okada and May Kasahara choose to ignore this malaise? Do they drop out of society? Conclude by discussing how this portrait of Japan reflect the Lost Decade in which the novel is set.

Essay Topic 2

Lieutenant Mamiya has perhaps the most extended personal narrative of the novel after Toru Okada. By the end of the novel, we know exactly what happened to Mamiya, in detail during the war. Write an essay, beginning with an overview of the travails this man faced in China, Mongolia, and Eastern Russia. ow did he survive, and what malicious figure continued to cross paths with him? What experience did Mamiya have in the war that was similar to Toru's? In conclusion, how is Mamiya's life a warning to Toru?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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