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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 does Kafka think his mother abandoned him?

2. Who tells Hoshino that he is "a spirit - neither god not Buddha"?

3. Whose spirit does Mrs. Saeki think is living inside Kafka's body?

4. When Mrs. Saeki rests her hand on Nakata's chest, what rushes into him?

5. What does Mrs. Saeki ask Nakata to do with the stack of papers she has written about her life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mrs. Saeki react when Kafka confronts her about the possibility that she is his mother?

2. What conversation does Hoshino get into with the elderly coffee shop owner the day that the entrance stone is flipped?

3. How does Colonel Sanders explain his physical form to Hoshino?

4. What happens with Mrs. Saeki sleepwalks into Kafka's bedroom?

5. Why did Mrs. Saeki first open the entrance stone?

6. Why does Oshima wake Kafka in the middle of the night with a frantic phone call?

7. What arrangements does Colonel Sanders make for Nakata and Hoshino while the police are on their manhunt?

8. How does Kafka react when he is approached by the Japanese soldiers in Oshima's woods?

9. What happens when Crow encounters Johnny Walker in the enchanted woods?

10. What happened to the two soldiers that went for a walk in the woods surrounding Oshima's cabin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While at the cabin, Oshima gives Kafka an ominous warning about the soldiers who visited these woods during the war. According to history, what happened to these soldiers when they were in Oshima's woods? What is Oshima worried will happen to Kafka if he ventures too far away from the cabin?

Essay Topic 2

As a boy, Tamura decides that he would like to change his name to Kafka. First, describe how Tamura chose this name for himself. Then, compare / contrast the character of Kafka from the novel with the man whose name he borrowed, Franz Kafka. What is the same about these men? What is different? Finally, explain whether or not you think Kafka is an appropriate name for the protagonist of this novel, and why.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, the repercussions of sleepwalking affect the characters. Choose at least two scenes in which a character commits a devious act while sleeping and compare / contrast the effects this action has on the character's life. Then, explain how the subconscious of the characters responds to the deepest desires of that character's soul.

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