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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. Which family member does the narrator first think the Woman in the Purple Skirt remind her of?

2. What rumor did the narrator hear about Arishima-san after she left school?

3. How early does the Woman in the Purple Skirt leave for the bus on the first day of her new job?

4. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt go each week at the start of the story?

5. What does Supervisor Hamomoto tell the Woman in the Purple Skirt Supervisor Tachibana takes from work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator overhear Supervisor Tsukada and the director saying about the Woman during her first day on the job?

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

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

4. What does the narrator leave on the Woman's park bench to assist in her job hunt?

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

6. What happens at the park after the Woman sits with her apple after her first day of work?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Away from the main character examine the way the author uses the other characters in the book. When does she introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining the cream bun as a symbol in The Woman in the Purple Skirt. In what scenes does a cream bun appear? What is the context? How does the cream bun develop the narrative or themes of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the author of The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Who is she? What else has she written? How is The Woman in the Purple Skirt similar or different from her other works?

(see the answer keys)

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