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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 these was included in the list of things that had lost their power?
(a) An ancient Emperor.
(b) A large tree that was blown down.
(c) A retreating storm.
(d) A dead fish washed up on a beach.

2. What kind of flowers did the musicians wear in their head-dresses during the Festival at Kamo?
(a) Irises.
(b) White roses.
(c) Yellow roses.
(d) Wistaria.

3. What did the High Priestess travel in during the Return Procession from Kamo?
(a) Oxen cart.
(b) Palanquin.
(c) Palm leaf carriage.
(d) Wicker-work carriage.

4. What terminology did Shonagon and Tadanobu use to discuss men and women when they didn't want anyone else to know what they were talking about?
(a) The terminology of go.
(b) The terminology of backgammon.
(c) The terminology of the Chinese zodiac.
(d) Poetic terminology.

5. What was in the parcel that Yukinari sent Shonagon in "One Day a Man from the Office of Grounds?"
(a) A robe.
(b) Flowers.
(c) Square cakes.
(d) Colored paper.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of these did Shonagon say was a thing that gave a hot feeling?

2. What kind of pond did Shonagon like best?

3. What was stuck into the pile of snow that Emperor Murakami ordered?

4. What is the meaning of the name of the plant that Shonagon asked the children the name of in "On the Sixth of the Month?"

5. Who did Shonagon say it was pleasant for a court lady on leave to visit?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Chancellor tell the Empress that he must have good karma on the day after the Dedication of the Full Canon?

2. Why was Shonagon so impressed with Michinaga's obeisance to the Chancellor?

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

4. Why did the Empress laugh when Tozammi brought her the letters about the people at the capital no longer wearing their mourning clothes?

5. Why was Nobukata upset by Shonagon's response to his inquiry about how she felt about the poem "had not yet reached the term of thirty?"

6. Why was Shonagon happy to receive a note from a man that read "the rain that swells the water?"

7. Why did the Empress think Shonagon was lying when she insisted she was fond of the Empress during her early days as a courtier?

8. Why did Shonagon spend a long time at home after the Chancellor's death?

9. Why was Shonagon uncertain of how to reply to Yukinari's gift of square cakes?

10. Why did Tadanobu tell Nobukata about the secret code he and Shonagon spoke in?

(see the answer keys)

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