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. Why is Mamiya given more access to the Russian camp than most Japanese prisoners in his Chapter 30 letter?

2. What decision has Cinnamon made regarding the business in Chapter 24?

3. What is Kumiko planning to do in Chapter 38?

4. According to Kumiko in Chapter 22, what has her metamorphosis done to her?

5. How many secret healers does M consult in Chapter 12's article?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sad reality does May Kasahara admit to in Chapter 18's letter?

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

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

4. What plans do most women in May Kasahara's factory have?

5. What happens to Noboru Wataya in Chapter 37?

6. What circle of connections does Toru Okada uncover in Chapter 23?

7. How does Nutmeg's marriage end in Chapter 20?

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

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

10. In Chapter 22, what does Kumiko say about her current state of mind?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,157 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample