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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 Woman in the Purple Skirt react when asked to introduced herself during the meeting on her first day?

2. What does the director say to the Woman in the Purple Skirt about the other supervisors?

3. What is a sign to the narrator that the Woman in the Purple Skirt has a job?

4. What do the staff say about the agency director's homelife?

5. Where does the Woman in the Purple Skirt get a job?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

4. Who is Mei-chan and how does she relate to the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

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

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

7. Describe the training the director gives to the Woman in the Purple Skirt on her first day,

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

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

10. What type of information does the narrator keep track of regarding the Woman in the Purple Skirt?

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 exploring the significance of the children in the park in The Woman in the Purple Skirt. What do they represent? How do they develop the narrative?

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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