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

3. What does the director have the Woman in the Purple Skirt do at the start of their training on her first day?

4. How does Supervisor Tsukada describe the job to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day?

5. What does the narrator think people in the neighborhood would say if TV crews asked if they knew the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. How does the director thwart the narrator's chance to speak to the Woman on her second day of work? What does he say to her? What does he give her?

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

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

8. What does the narrator do while the director is training the Woman in the Purple Skirt during her first day of work?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the use of dialogue vs the use of description. How is each used in the The Woman in the Purple Skirt? Explain what makes these uses effective or ineffective.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Imamura's commentary on the theme of loneliness in The Woman in the Purple Skirt. How is this theme important to the story? How does it affect the narrative? Use textual evidence to explain your analysis.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 922 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample