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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 does the Woman do with the children in the park after her first day of work?

2. Who asks the Woman in the Purple Skirt to introduce herself to the staff on her first day?

3. Considering all the advice Supervisor Tsukada gives to the Woman, how long does the narrator feel it will take her to complete training?

4. What job does the narrator highlight for the Woman in the first job magazine she leaves for her?

5. What does the narrator do one day when a salesman sits on the Woman in the Purple Skirt's Exclusively Reserved Seat?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Arishima-san? Why does the narrator ultimately decide the Woman in the Purple Skirt cannot be Arishima-san?

2. How do the hotel employees feel about the Woman in the Purple Skirt when she first starts working there?

3. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt live? What does this place reveal about the Woman?

4. What type of information does the narrator keep track of regarding the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

5. What does the narrator to do try to get shampoo samples to the Woman? Is she successful?

6. Why is the narrator not surprised when the Woman struggles to get hired?

7. In what way does the narrator feel she may have helped the Woman in the Purple Skirt win over the director and supervisor so quickly?

8. What changes does the narrator note about the Woman when she has a job versus when she does not?

9. Describe the training the director gives to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day,

10. Describe the interaction between Supervisor Tsukada and the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day after she gets her uniform.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a brief essay analyzing the title, The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Explore the ways in which this title connects to the plot and themes of obsession and loneliness.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Imamura’s focus on the theme of obsession as presented in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay discussing the hotel setting in The Woman in the Purple Skirt. In what ways does this setting impact the narrative and the themes of obsession and loneliness?

(see the answer keys)

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