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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 does the director respond when the Woman apologizes for any trouble she caused by being so late that day?

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. What does the narrator see a man doing to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on the bus one morning?

5. How long does it take the Woman in the Purple Skirt to complete her training?

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 do the staff say the morning the Woman in the Purple Skirt is late for work? What does Supervisor Tsukada tell them they had done with the Woman a couple nights before?

3. Why is the narrator more likely to see the Woman at the park than at work after the Woman completes her training?

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

5. What is unusual about the Woman in the Purple Skirt the evening the narrator sees her in the shopping district late after her third day of work?

6. Why does the narrator go to work on her day off on the Woman's third day of work? Why does she return home?

7. Describe the scene when the Woman shares a box of chocolates with the children at the park. What do they discuss?

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

9. Where do the director and the Woman go on their date after the coffee shop? Which place do they stay the longest?

10. In what ways does the staff treat the Woman very different than the narrator has ever been treated by them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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 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.

(see the answer keys)

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