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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did Shonagon say people walking about laughing loudly are enviable?
(a) When one is ill.
(b) During times of abstinence.
(c) When one is sad.
(d) Late at night.

2. What temple did the Chancellor order the Dedication of the Full Canon to take place in?
(a) UrinTemple.
(b) Haze Temple.
(c) Chisoku Temple.
(d) Shakuzen Temple.

3. What was the spirit of the Captain from the Inner Palace Guards said to be haunting?
(a) A temple.
(b) A path leading to the garden.
(c) The Palace.
(d) A bridge.

4. What terminology did Shonagon and Tadanobu use to discuss men and women when they didn't want anyone else to know what they were talking about?
(a) The terminology of backgammon.
(b) The terminology of go.
(c) The terminology of the Chinese zodiac.
(d) Poetic terminology.

5. What time of day did the Shigei Sha arrive at the Palace to see the Empress?
(a) Midday.
(b) Early in the morning.
(c) Early evening.
(d) Late at night.

6. What was the poem Captain Tadanobu was going to recite in "One Day Captain Tadanobu, the Imperial Adviser, Came to Call?"
(a) Cherry blossoms in the spring.
(b) The Fourth Month in this world of men.
(c) A beautiful woman looking at the moon.
(d) The Chancellor's death.

7. Who was the woman that Nobukata broke off his relationship with due to the gossip of the ladies?
(a) Sakyo.
(b) Shonagon.
(c) Lady Korechika.
(d) Tozammi.

8. What did Masahiro hide behind a screen to eat?
(a) Beans.
(b) Fish.
(c) Seaweed.
(d) Rice.

9. Who remarked to all the ladies gathered in the corridor to watch that it "must make [them] laugh to see the foolish old man?"
(a) The Emperor.
(b) Tadanobu.
(c) The Empress.
(d) The Chancellor.

10. Where did Shonagon like to sit after a thin fall of snow?
(a) In the Empress's bedchamber.
(b) Under a warm pile of blankets.
(c) Beside a pond in the garden.
(d) Around a brazier on the veranda.

11. Who said they had left the grass in the garden outside the palace to grow long so they could admire the dew?
(a) Lady Sakyo.
(b) Lady Saisho.
(c) Shonagon.
(d) The Empress.

12. Which of these did Shonagon say loses by being painted?
(a) Mountain villages.
(b) Cherry blossoms.
(c) Cranes.
(d) Pines.

13. Which of the following did Shonagon include on her list of presumptuous things?
(a) Coughing.
(b) Burping.
(c) Sneezing.
(d) Foot shuffling.

14. Which of these did Shonagon say was distant but near?
(a) Relations between a man and a woman.
(b) The course of a boat.
(c) Paradise.
(d) Festivals celebrated near the palace.

15. Who came to check on the Empress due to the heavy snow even though it was an abstinence day?
(a) Tadanobu.
(b) Takaie.
(c) Masahiro.
(d) Korechika.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Shonagon say the child who brought a letter to Tozammi's room looked like?

2. In "On the Last Day of the Second Month," who was present at court that made Shonagon worry about her response to the note she received at the Black Door?

3. In "Things Without Merit" what item did Shonagon say was so vulgar that people wouldn't want her to mention it?

4. In "Enviable Things" what hour was it when Shonagon was still only half way to the top of the hill to get to the Upper Shrine?

5. What did the High Priestess travel in during the Return Procession from Kamo?

(see the answer keys)

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