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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. What do the director and the Woman in the Purple Skirt get at the when they get off of the bus?

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

3. What does the narrator realize she forgot when she came to work on the Woman in the Purple Skirt's third day?

4. What does the Woman in the Purple Skirt receive after she completes her training?

5. Who refers to what the Woman in the Purple Skirt does behind locked doors as "the very worst kind of behavior" (169)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. Why is the narrator annoyed with the way the Woman explains the bus incident to the director and others? What does she imagine doing the next time she has a chance?

10. What happens on the morning bus when the narrator notices a bit of rice on the Woman in the Purple Skirt's jacket?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Choose a character and discuss their role in creating conflict in the book.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing Imamura's language style and word choice in The Woman in the Purple Skirt. What are some words that stand out to you and why? What words are repeated? What words are most impactful? Explain your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 970 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample