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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the people associated with ox carts were to be dressed well?
(a) Stable hands.
(b) Drivers.
(c) Paiges.
(d) Attendants.

2. What insect did Shonagon say she should have included in her list of hateful things?
(a) Mosquito.
(b) Beetle.
(c) Moth.
(d) Fly.

3. What did the pictures hung for the Perpetual Readings depict?
(a) Bodai Temple.
(b) Birds.
(c) The Buddha.
(d) Cherry blossoms.

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

5. What did Shonagon see someone spreading on the ground while traveling in her carriage one day?
(a) Flowers.
(b) Straw mats.
(c) Seeds.
(d) Clothing.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color did Shonagon say oxen's bellies should be?

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

3. What hateful thing did Shonagon say some elderly people did when warming their hands over a brazier?

4. What was hung from the pillars of the Empress' palace during the Festival of the Fifth Month?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. The herbal balls hung on the pillars of the Empress' palace during the Festival of the Fifth Month were supposed to last until the next Chrysanthemum Festival. Why didn't they last until then?

2. Why did Shonagon find it annoying when a man who was not more than an acquaintance came for a casual chat?

3. What made Shonagon come into the Empress's apartments after she left because the screens with the paintings of Hell frightened her?

4. What was the reason given for the way the snap-beetle bowed while crawling?

5. Why did the Empress scold Shonagon when she complained that people would see the women looking shabby as they entered the house because the gate was too small?

6. Why did the name of the water-plantain amuse Shonagon?

7. Why did Shonagon send her brother a piece of seaweed in reply to his letter?

8. In "Smaller Shirakawa," why did Shonagon and her companions leave the morning service early?

9. Why did the Empress give the old nun, whom the women later dubbed Hitachi no Suke, one of her own robes?

10. Why did the women hit one another with gruel sticks?

(see the answer keys)

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