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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. How long does Mamiya assist Boris in the prison camp?

2. What advise does Mamiya leave Toru with in Chapter 32?

3. Who does Toru hear as soon as he enters the hotel in Chapter 31?

4. How does May Kasahara respond to the duck people in Chapter 36?

5. What part of her first client's body did Nutmeg touch to heal her?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What plan does Kumiko reveal in Chapter 17?

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

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

6. What problem does Ushikawa admit with Kumiko's meeting Toru, and how does he solve it in Chapter 19?

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

8. Describe Cinnamon.

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

10. How is Toru implicated in an assassination attempt in Chapter 33?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The central antagonist of the novel is Noboru Wataya, a generally unpleasant but popular politician. Write an essay exploring the character arc of Noboru Wataya. How does he go from malcontent intellectual to beloved politician in such a short period? What is his opinion of Toru Okaka, and Toru's opinion of him? Describe the initial secret that Toru knows about Noboru and how this secret gives rise to a much large incrimination of Noboru Wataya. In the end, does Noboru get what he deserves?

Essay Topic 2

Regularly throughout the novel, characters discover something deeply spiritual about themselves, brought about by their close proximity to death. Write an essay about three of these instances and their meaning in the novel:

Part 1) Describe the harrowing experience Lieutenant Mamiya experiences in Mongolia. How is he affected by his day in the dry well before being rescued? What changed in his outlook of the world?

Part 2) At what point does Creta Kano, after years of constant and unremitting pain, achieve some type of relief? What does this transition have to do with a proximity to death? How is this change connected to her eventual, more ethereal profession?

Part 3) When does Toru Okada develop the blue-black mark on his face? What traumatic and somewhat dangerous occurrence does this follow? What new and spiritual powers does this mark seem to imbue Toru with?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about Nutmeg and Cinnamon. What is their function within the novel? Begin the essay by discussing their lives before meeting Toru Okada and how Nutmeg comes to be fascinated with the protagonist. What about the mother and son makes them unusual and eccentric? In the final paragraph, discuss the possibility that Cinnamon is the author of the novel. What is on his computer that would lead a reader to this conclusion?

(see the answer keys)

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