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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. Why are the mountains an ideal place for the wig factory?
2. Whose voice does Toru Okada hear at the beginning of Chapter 34?
3. Who does Toru hear as soon as he enters the hotel in Chapter 31?
4. What superlative does Toru use to describe Ushikawa in Chapter 13?
5. According to the article in Chapter 21, what component of the dummy corporation has been linked to political scandals?
Short Essay Questions
1. What new offer does Ushikawa make to Toru Okada in Chapter 16?
2. How does Toru Okada's opinion of his wife change over the course of the novel?
3. What happens to Noboru Wataya in Chapter 37?
4. What plan does Kumiko reveal in Chapter 17?
5. What circle of connections does Toru Okada uncover in Chapter 23?
6. Why is Toru content in Chapter 25?
7. What does the boy in Chapter 11 find in the bag and what does he do with it?
8. What sad reality does May Kasahara admit to in Chapter 18's letter?
9. Describe Mamiya's assassination attempt on Boris in Chapter 32.
10. What does May Kasahara remember about the Myawaki's in Chapter 28?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a vast menagerie of different storylines and themes. One theme that lingers beneath the surface of the central narrative is the legacy of the Second World War and its psychically wounding effect. Write an essay about the war's place in the novel, in two parts below:
Part 1) Write a paragraph about the veterinarian and his days in the Chinese zoo as the allies approach. How do the few events mentioned in the book about this man indicate an absurd force driving the war? What does Murakami mean to get across about the war by the fact that these stories are told by two characters that never fought in World War Two?
Part 2) Write a paragraph about the war stories of Lieutenant Mamiya. To what extent does Mamiya's narrative illustrate the brutal realities of war? How have these experiences affected Mamiya is the War's end? How are they a counterpoint to the stories of the veterinarian?
Essay Topic 2
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?
Essay Topic 3
In the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the central protagonist is Toru Okada, but the character of May Kasahara provides a tertiary plot-line that mirrors Toru's. Write an essay about May Kasahara's story. What adversity does she face, and how did this come about? Thematically, how is her story similar to Toru Okada's? What is the nature of her alienation, and how does she overcome it? Conclude the essay by explaining how May's story ends similarly to Toru's.
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This section contains 1,034 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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