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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. What did Shonagon say a woman's house should look like when she lived alone?

2. In "There Was a Man in the Corridor" what was the man's servant holding?

3. What kind of lodging did Shonagon stay in in "Shortly after the Twentieth of the Ninth Month?"

4. Who was the woman that Nobukata broke off his relationship with due to the gossip of the ladies?

5. In "When His Excellency, the Chancellor, Had Departed" who reminded Shonagon of the next line of a poem she had forgotten?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did people respond to Masahiro being dressed more elegantly than most men and why did they respond that way?

2. Why was Shonagon impressed when the Empress guessed that the cherry blossoms had been ruined by the rain?

3. Why did Shonagon want to change places with the woman she met on her way up the hill to the Upper Shrine?

4. Why did the Empress say that she could understand why Shonagon would be particularly impressed by Tadanobu's finding the perfect lines to say at a gathering following a service for the late Chancellor?

5. Why did Shonagon think it was important to keep ones inkstone and writing utensil in good condition?

6. Why did the priest tell the women to keep talking all night after overhearing their conversation about where the wood for the Chamberlains' batons come from and talking about the names of clothing?

7. Why was Nobukata offended when Shonagon teased him about liking to have a place to lie down and rest?

8. Why did Shonagon say a man who had been promoted from Subordinate Officer to Chamberlain seemed like he had been reborn?

9. When the ladies visited the guard house in "While We Were in Mourning for the Chancellor" why did the guards get angry with them?

10. Why did Shonagon say that a woman who leaves home because she is angry with her husband has lost power?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the interaction between members of the royal family. What preparations were made for visits? How did the family members treat each other? What role did their formal positions play in their interactions?

Essay Topic 2

How did Shonagon treat men differently from women? What did she say about each? Whom does she compliment? What might account for the differences in the way she treated men and women?

Essay Topic 3

Midway through the book we see a shift in Shonagon's writing style to a more developed style of prose. Describe the shift. What changes in her writing style? What does it reveal about Shonagon?

(see the answer keys)

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