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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. Who does the Woman in the Purple Skirt meet on her day off from work?

2. How do the children react when the Woman in the Purple Skirt tells them she works as a hotel cleaner?

3. What does the narrator learn the Woman in the Purple Skirt had done with other staff members after her third day of work?

4. How late is the Woman in the Purple Skirt for work on her fourth day after the incident on the bus?

5. What did the narrator see the Woman purchasing in the market one day?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the staff behavior toward the Woman change after they find out about her affair with the director? How does the Woman respond?

2. What happens when the staff learn someone is selling hotel items at the local bazaar? Who do they think is behind it?

3. What leads the Woman to leave the hotel and never return?

4. What happens when Supervisor Tsukada confronts the Woman in the Purple Skirt about the stolen hotel items?

5. How does the narrator know the Woman in the Purple Skirt met the director on her day off from work?

6. What does the Woman discover when she sniffs the other staff members' water bottles? Does she check the narrator's? Why or why not?

7. What rumor does the narrator overhear about the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

8. What does the director discuss at the second monthly meeting the Woman attends? What does he task supervisors with and how do they feel about this?

9. Describe the conversation between the Woman and Supervisor Tsukada about the hotel shampoo and why the Woman does not use it.

10. How does the narrator come to memorize the director's home phone number?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing the symbolic significance the narrator's backstory has on the story. Why is this important and how does it develop the themes of the story? What would be different if the narrator had a close-knit family? Use examples from the text to support your viewpoint.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring the narrator's attempts to get close to the Woman in the Purple Skirt. What plans does she come up with and how are these plans continuously thwarted?

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)

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