This space contains
reference material beginning next to Question 13.
To answer Questions 13-18, please read
the following passage from Chapter 7 of Haruki Murakami's After Dark.
Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the passage. There is
one and only one correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 7, page 99
“The man is impeccably dressed. He
has exercised a good deal of care in choosing his outfit, though it is
neither highly individualized nor especially sophisticated. He does have
good taste. His shirt and tie look expensive— probably name-brand items.
His face gives an impression of intelligence and breeding. The watch on
his left wrist is elegantly thin, his glasses Armani in style. His hands
are large, fingers long, nails well manicured. A narrow wedding band
adorns the third finger of his left hand. His facial features are
undistinguished, but the details of his expression suggest a
strong-willed personality. He is probably just about forty years old,
and the flesh of his face and neck, at least, show no trace of sagging.
In general appearance, he gives the same impression as a well-ordered
room. He does not look like the kind of man who would buy a Chinese
prostitute in a love hotel—and certainly not one who would administer an
unmerciful pounding to such a woman, strip her clothes off, and take
them away. In fact, however, that is exactly what he did— what he had to
do.” (Murakami, 99)
For Questions 19-23,
please read the following passage from Chapter 9 of Haruki Murakami’s
After Dark. Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the
passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 9, Pages
116-117
"‘After I'd been to the
court a few times, though, and observed a few cases, I started to become
strangely interested in viewing the events that were being judged and
the people who were involved in the events. Maybe I should say I found
myself less and less able to see these as other people's problems. It
was a very weird feeling. I mean, the ones on trial are not like me in
any way: they're a different kind of human being. They live in a
different world, they think different thoughts, and their actions are
nothing like mine. Between the world they live in and the world I live
in there's this thick, high wall. At least, that's how I saw it at
first. I mean, there's no way I'm gonna commit those vicious crimes. I'm
a pacifist, a good-natured guy, I've never laid a hand on anybody since
I was a kid. Which is why I was able to view a trial from on high as a
total spectator.’
Takahashi raises his
face and looks at Mari. Then he chooses his words carefully.
‘As I
sat in court, though, and listened to the testimonies of the witnesses
and the speeches of the prosecutors and the arguments of the defense
attorneys and the statements of the defendants, I became a lot less sure
of myself. In other words, I started seeing it like this: that there
really was no such thing as a wall separating their world from mine. Or
if there was such a wall, it was probably a flimsy one made of
papier-mâché. The second I leaned on it, I'd probably fall right through
and end up on the other side. Or maybe it's that the other side has
already managed to sneak its way inside of us, and we just haven't
noticed. That's how I started to feel. It's hard to put into words.’ "
(Murakami, 116-17)
To answer Questions 24-27, please read the following
passage from enotes.com regarding a critical reaction to Haruki
Murakami's After Dark. Choose the best responses to the prompts
next to the passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each
prompt.
Walter Kirn, writing for The New
York Times, finds that Murakami’s After Dark provides vignettes
about city life (Tokyo, specifically) in the chaotic hours after the sun
goes down. Readers are given glimpses of both the terrors and the
somewhat comforting shadows of night creatures who either cannot or do
not want to sleep. Kirn calls Murakami a patient man who is not quite of
this world. He is a writer who continues to plead for the case of
humans, who are lonesome and afraid and do not know what to do.
In describing this novel, Kirn
writes, Murakami “chooses his metaphors for their musical value, not
their intellectual architecture, and lets them play on by breath and
intuition.” Kirn does not approve of Murakami’s abstract scenes, such as
attempting to enter Eri’s dreams; rather, he finds the author strongest
when his characters kept their feet on the ground and just talked.
"AD - Critical Overview" eNotes Publishing Ed.
Scott Locklear. eNotes.com, Inc. eNotes.com 6 Jan, 2017 <http://www.enotes.com/topics/after-dark-murakami/critical-essays#critical-essays-critical-overview>
For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.
impeccably
(adj.) sparked
(adv.) perfectly
(adv.) scientifically
(n.) atonement
remorse
(n.) examination
(n.) guilt
(n.) peacemaker
(n.) pyromania
piqued
(adj.) sparked
(adv.) perfectly
(adv.) scientifically
(n.) atonement
arson
(n.) examination
(n.) guilt
(n.) peacemaker
(n.) pyromania
antisocial
(adj.) actual
(adj.) basic
(adj.) criminal
(adj.) plain
practical
(adj.) actual
(adj.) basic
(adj.) criminal
(adj.) plain
unadorned
(adj.) actual
(adj.) basic
(adj.) criminal
(adj.) plain
pacifist
(n.) examination
(n.) guilt
(n.) peacemaker
(n.) pyromania
analytically
(adj.) sparked
(adv.) perfectly
(adv.) scientifically
(n.) atonement
redemption
(adj.) sparked
(adv.) perfectly
(adv.) scientifically
(n.) atonement
scrutiny
(n.) examination
(n.) guilt
(n.) peacemaker
(n.) pyromania
fundamental
(adj.) actual
(adj.) basic
(adj.) criminal
(adj.) plain
(RL1) Which of the following is NOT a descriptive phrase which could be used to categorize the man’s appearance?
impeccably dressed
highly individualized
undistinguished features
well-ordered
(RL4) Which of the following involves a figurative and metaphorical comparison?
“He has exercised a good deal of care in choosing his outfit…”
“His face gives an impression of intelligence and breeding.”
“In general appearance, he gives the same impression as a well-ordered room.”
“In fact, however, that is exactly what he did— what he had to do.”
(RL4) What two elements are being compared with the primary metaphor of the passage?
man and room
shirt and tie
intelligence and breeding
personality and prostitute
(RL1) From his appearance only, what can’t readers infer about the described man?
He picks his clothes carefully.
He’s married.
He has self-confidence.
He’s antisocial.
(RL5) What is the author’s central claim that all of the descriptive sentences of the paragraph support?
“He does not look like the kind of man who would buy a Chinese prostitute in a love hotel...”
“He is probably just about forty years old, and the flesh of his face and neck...show no trace of sagging.”
“A narrow wedding band adorns the third finger of his left hand.”
“His face gives an impression of intelligence and breeding.”
(RL6) Which of the following best sums up Murakami’s purpose in this particular passage?
He wants to imply that the man is rich enough to get whatever he wants.
He wants to prove that the man’s appearance doesn’t fit his true nature.
He wants to suggest that the man is trying to fool his wife into thinking he’s cultured.
He wants to indicate that it’s often easy to judge a book by its cover.
(RL1) What should readers infer is something that Takahashi has learned from observing court cases?
Every person possesses the potential to be either law-abiding or criminal.
The criminal world is inhabited by totally different people than the law-abiding world.
Walls that separate law-abiders from criminals are impossible to cross.
Criminals and law-abiders are separate and distinct from birth until death.
(RL2) How does Takahashi’s metaphorical wall transform from the first paragraph to the third?
from flimsy papier-mâché to thick, high
from problems to words
from thick, high to flimsy papier-mâché
from words to problems
(RL3) How would Takahashi describe his development from the first paragraph of the passage to the third?
from spectating to identifying
from criminal to law-abiding
from interested to uninterested
from loving to hateful
(RL4) What’s the best translation of the piece of text that follows? “Or maybe it's that the other side has already managed to sneak its way inside of us, and we just haven't noticed.”
Our greatest talents are hidden because we’re embarrassed by them.
We all possess antisocial tendencies that aren’t obvious to us.
The best sides of people aren’t the ones that they display for everyone.
Nobody notices bad characteristics even though everyone willingly adopts them.
(RL5) What does the transition sentence below imply? “Takahashi raises his face and looks at Mari. Then he chooses his words carefully.”
What he is about to relate is something that’s unimportant to everyone but Mari.
He had been talking about his present life but now wants to discuss the past.
He was lying up to this point but is now going to tell the truth.
What he’s about to say is important and involves his current thinking.
(RI5) What does the critic, Kirn, claim that Murakami values when he asserts that the author “chooses his metaphors for their musical value, not their intellectual architecture”?
structure over substance
nature over nurture
fantasy over reality
sound over insight
RI4) When Kirn notes that Murakami “lets [his metaphors] play on by breath and intuition,” what does he mean by the word “intuition”?
knowledge
instinct
skill
strength
(RI6) Which or the following best encapsulates Kirn’s argument about Murakami’s identity and purpose as a writer in the opening paragraph?
“Murakami’s
After Dark provides vignettes about city life in the chaotic hours after the sun goes down.”
“Readers are given glimpses of both the terrors and the somewhat comforting shadows of night creatures…”
“Kirn calls Murakami a patient man who is not quite of this world.”
“He is a writer who continues to plead for the case of humans, who are lonesome and afraid…”
(RI4) Which of this week’s vocabulary words best describes Murakami’s writing strength, as indicated by Kirn in the following? “...he finds the author strongest when his characters kept their feet on the ground and just talked.”
antisocial
piqued
practical
remorseful
Pick the best possessive pronouns to fill in the blanks. My adventure is of interest to ________ and ________.
them; me
them; I
they; me
he; I
Which sentence is written correctly?
We prisoners which fled from San Quentin hid in the mountains, however the FBI catched them and I.
We prisoners which fled from San Quentin hid in the mountains; however. the FBI caught them and I.
We prisoners, who fled from San Quentin, hid in the mountains; however, the FBI caught them and me.
We prisoners, which fled from San Quentin, hid in the mountains; however. the FBI caught them and me.