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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. How long has it been since the narrator last saw her sister?

2. What family event marked the last time the narrator saw her sister?

3. What does the manager tell the staff they need to keep better tabs on during their meeting?

4. What incident at a supermarket resulted in the narrator no longer going to that market?

5. What did the narrator have to pay to repair after bumping into it one day?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What surprises the narrator about the Woman in the Purple Skirt after they begin to work together?

3. How did the narrator once try to engage with the Woman in the Purple Skirt? What was the result?

4. How do the children at the park interact with the Woman in the Purple Skirt at the park? How does she react to them?

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

6. Who does the narrator follow at the start of the story? Where does she go each week? What does she buy? Where does she sit after?

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

8. Describe the first monthly staff meeting that the Woman attends. What is the focus? How does she behave?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing narrative voice in Imamura of The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Include thoughts on how the narrative voice of the story is effective in conveying the story’s themes of obsession and loneliness.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Choose a character and discuss their role in creating conflict in the book.

(see the answer keys)

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