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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. What position was the young man in "A Family Has Finally Arranged the Marriage" appointed to?
(a) Clerk.
(b) Chamberlain.
(c) Palace Guard.
(d) Priest.

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

3. Who wanted Shonagon to teach her the terminology that Shonagon and Tadanobu used to talk in secret?
(a) Norimitsu.
(b) Nobukata.
(c) Korechika.
(d) Tozammi.

4. What did Masahiro hide behind a screen to eat?
(a) Fish.
(b) Beans.
(c) Seaweed.
(d) Rice.

5. Who did Shonagon say would not covet being a member of the Fifth Rank?
(a) Priests.
(b) Chamberlains of the Sixth Rank.
(c) Page boys.
(d) Chamberlains of the Fourth Rank.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "In the First Month When I Go to a Temple" who did Shonagon say she liked to have with her when she visited a new place?

2. What would make a player in a game of hidden rhymes look pleased with himself?

3. Who did the Empress suggest Shonagon ask for advice about how to respond to the package from Yukinari?

4. What kind of wood was the round brazier the Empress sat before when Shonagon came to visit in her early days as a lady-in-waiting?

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

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

3. 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?"

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

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

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

7. What did Shonagon hope to find out by seeing the Shigei Sha and what conclusion did she come to?

8. Why was Shonagon moved to tears upon witnessing the Emperor paying his respects to the Empress Dowager?

9. Why did Shonagon say festivals held near the palace were distant but near?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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