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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Shonagon enjoy seeing men carry to and fro as the Festival approached?
(a) Loaves of bread.
(b) Rolls of material.
(c) Flowers for the ladies.
(d) Decorations for the palace.

2. How did Shonagon say the sky should appear on the fifth day of the Fifth Month?
(a) Sunny.
(b) Foggy.
(c) Cloudy.
(d) Brilliantly blue.

3. What did Yukinari tell Shonagon he was saying to the woman she saw him speaking with near the garden fence?
(a) He was telling her he loved her.
(b) He was telling her not to leave.
(c) He was telling her to meet him later.
(d) He was urging her to marry him.

4. What gift did the Empress give the wet nurse who was leaving?
(a) A robe.
(b) A basket of flowers.
(c) A piece of jewelry.
(d) A fan.

5. What time of the day did Shonagan say was the most beautiful in the spring?
(a) Evening.
(b) Afternoon.
(c) Late night.
(d) Dawn.

6. What item did Shonagon send to Normitsu in response to his letter asking if he could tell Tadanobu where she was?
(a) Shell.
(b) Seaweed.
(c) Hollyhock.
(d) Twig.

7. What was the right season to meet one's lover?
(a) Spring.
(b) Winter.
(c) Summer.
(d) Fall.

8. In "It Is So Stiflingly Hot," who did the woman in the house with the open lattice receive a letter from?
(a) Her husband.
(b) Her father.
(c) The Emperor.
(d) Her original lover.

9. What was nice to hear while snuggling under the covers with a lover in the winter?
(a) A temple gong.
(b) A flute.
(c) A purring cat.
(d) Bellowing cows.

10. Who did the Empress refer to as "heavenly maidens floating in the air?"
(a) Little girls at a festival.
(b) Young women at a wedding.
(c) Her attendants.
(d) Her daughters.

11. Where did the women plan to go to hear a hototogisu sing during the Abstinence of the Fifth Month?
(a) A bridge.
(b) A field.
(c) A cherry orchard.
(d) An old mill.

12. What was the residence of the Major Captain of the Smaller Palace of the First Ward called?
(a) Seiryo Palace.
(b) Otoko Yama.
(c) High Court.
(d) Smaller Shirakawa.

13. In the section titled "It Was During One of Her Majesty's Periods of Residence," what did the women go outside to see in the early morning?
(a) Geese passing overhead.
(b) A parade.
(c) The moon.
(d) An approaching storm.

14. What color robe did Korechika wear when he came to report to His Majesty while the ladies sat discussing the painting on a sliding screen?
(a) Cherry-colored.
(b) Black.
(c) Wistaria.
(d) Golden yellow.

15. What kind of plant did Shonagon find pretty when it floated on the water of a pond?
(a) Hollyhock.
(b) Water oats.
(c) Water-plantain.
(d) Lotus leaves.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color of under-robe was depressing in the Eighth Month?

2. What dried plant evoked a memory from the past in the section titled "Things That Arouse a Fond Memory From the Past?"

3. What did common people often add to their speech?

4. What color did Shonagon say a cat's back should be?

5. In "A Lover's Visit," what did Shonagon find irritating about servants who arrived with the lover?

(see the answer keys)

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