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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 sound awakens Toru at the end of Chapter 37?

2. What is Toru Okada's main concern about chatting with Kumiko on a computer in Chapter 19?

3. In Chapter 20, to whom does the job of public relations for Nutmeg's fashion company fall?

4. What is the veterinarian worrying about at the beginning of Chapter 26?

5. What does Toru realizes about Kumiko's sister in Chapter 34?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does May Kasahara remember about the Myawaki's in Chapter 28?

2. What does Toru realize about his marriage to Kumiko in Chapter 34?

3. What does Toru do after Nutmeg and Cinnamon stop coming to the residence?

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

5. How does Toru Okada's opinion of his wife change over the course of the novel?

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

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

8. What offer does Noboru Wataya make Toru Okada in Chapter 13?

9. That is Nutmeg's concern in Chapter 24?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Kumiko Okada is one of the more enigmatic and yet dynamic characters in Murakimi's novel. She is decisive in her actions throughout but unclear, often, in her motivations. Write an essay about Kumiko's development is a character, focusing on three topics below:

Part 1) What is Kumiko's childhood like, including her relationships with both her brother and parents? What tragedy does Kumiko have to endure early in her life? How does it affect her family? Lastly, what does this childhood mean in terms of her adult life? What secrets must she bear?

Part 2) Why does Kumiko say that she chooses to leave Toru Okada? Write an essay analyzing why a simple act of infidelity spurs her to end her marriage entirely. What does Kumiko discover about herself that she did not know when she married Toru?

Part 3) What happens to Kumiko at the end of the novel, and how is this final turn of events connected both to her childhood and her decision to marry Toru? Conclude the essay by tracking Kumiko's motivation up to this point.

Essay Topic 3

A major theme of Murakami's novel is personal reinvention, and this reinvention is often made most explicit in characters who choose to rename themselves and others. Write an essay about characters in the novel who choose to change names, focusing on three instances. What events transpire that precipitate this change? What is the nature of the change? Is the change permanent? Conclude each paragraph by stating the essential thematic purpose for this change in name.

Part 1) Toru Okada, when speaking with May Kasahara.

Part 2) Malta and Creta Kano.

Part 3) Toru Okada's cat.

(see the answer keys)

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