Photo by © Kentaro Takahashi via
Kentaro Takahashi
Pre-Reading Questions:
- Do you like going to convenience stores?
- What can you say about people working in convenience stores?
Vocabulary:
- novelist /NOV-uh-list/
- translate /trans-LEYT/
- curious /KYOOR-ee-uhs/
- manual /MAN-yoo-uhl/
- unique /yoo-NEEK/
[noun] a person who writes long stories
Her dream is to become a novelist.
[verb] to change writing or speech from one language into another
Beth helped his brother translate his speech.
[adjective] interested in learning about people or things around you
Lily is curious about his life.
[noun] a book that gives instructions on how to do something or how to use something
Robin gave his cooking manual to his brother.
[adjective] unusual or special in some way
Mark was loved by his friends because of his unique quality.
Do you know how it feels like working in a convenience store? Well, Sayaka Murata does.
Sayaka Murata is a Japanese novelist who wrote “Convenience Store Woman”. The novel is the first of her 10 written works to be translated in English and won the Akutagawa Prize for Literature in 2016.
The story is about the life of a 36-year-old woman named Keiko. At her age, she doesn’t want to get married and is always curious about humans’ normal behavior.
When she started to work in a convenience store, Keiko received a manual telling her how she should behave. Keiko thinks that working in a convenience store will make her a normal person.
What makes this novel interesting? It’s Keiko’s unique story. To Sayaka Murata, being odd is the new normal.
Sayaka Murata is a Japanese novelist who wrote “Convenience Store Woman”. The novel is the first of her 10 written works to be translated in English and won the Akutagawa Prize for Literature in 2016.
The story is about the life of a 36-year-old woman named Keiko. At her age, she doesn’t want to get married and is always curious about humans’ normal behavior.
When she started to work in a convenience store, Keiko received a manual telling her how she should behave. Keiko thinks that working in a convenience store will make her a normal person.
What makes this novel interesting? It’s Keiko’s unique story. To Sayaka Murata, being odd is the new normal.
True or False:
- Sayaka Murata is a writer.
- “Convenience Store Woman” was written by Sayaka Murata.
- Murata’s novel won the Akutagawa Prize for Literature last year.
- Keiko is 36 years old.
- Murata is working in a convenience store.
Vocabulary Check:
Complete the sentences by using the words in the box.
| novelist | manual | curious | unique | translate |
- Justin’s _____ ideas are presented in the class.
- He bought the new computer with a ______.
- She’s always _____ about her grandfather’s life.
- She’s known in her country as a ______.
- It’s hard for her to ______ the project from English to Japanese.