View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 16, Toru and the man with the guitar case fight with what weapon?

2. After how many days of people-watching does Toru Okada see the man with the guitar case?

3. How does May's visit to the bottom of the well affect her self image?

4. What does the silent young man in Chapter 4 give Toru Okada to keep him from seeing where they are going?

5. How does Creta Kano explain her lack of clothes in the beginning of Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are the Okadas estranged from the Watayas?

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

3. How does Kumiko explain her own disappearance in her letter of Chapter 11?

4. What happens when Toru goes to the appointed address in Chapter 4?

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

6. Why does Creta Kano become a prostitute?

7. Describe Toru Okada's dream in Chapter 2.

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

9. Describe the interchange Toru has with the woman on the bench in Chapter 2?

10. What does Noboru Wataya want to say to Toru Okada in Chapter 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, beginning even with its title, is a novel that draws mystically from the animal world. Animals serve as harbingers and, to some extent, good-will ambassadors. Write an essay on the roles of three animals in the book. How is each animal introduced? What is its purpose, and how does this purpose become clear by the end of the novel? Does the appearance of this animal have positive or negative connotations?

Part 1) The ducks by May Kasahara's factory

Part 2) Toru's cat

Part 3) The Wind-Up Bird

Essay Topic 2

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a hodgepodge of different types of narrative forms, with some chapters wildly divergent from or seeming unrelated to, the central first-person narrative of Toru Okada. Write an essay about several chapters that are different from the main narrative. How do they connect to this central narrative? What story do they tell? Is there a particular theme that these other chapters serve to illuminate?

Part 1) The tabloid articles.

Part 2) The letters from the factory town.

Part 3) The third person chapters.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,170 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample