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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 job does Kim do for Hansu when the family returns to Osaka in Book Two, Chapter 9?

2. According to Book One, Chapter 4, Koh Hansu is a what?

3. What does Yangjin think about Isak when she first sees him in Book One, Chapter 2?

4. What does Sexton Hu mouth that gets him and the others arrested as described in Book Two, Chapter 2?

5. How had Sunja been proud of her father's kindness as described in Book One, Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Book Two, Chapter 5, why does Isak tell Noa he must still go to school even though Isak is dying?

2. How does Sunja deal with Mozasu's fighting in Book Two, Chapter 11?

3. How do Hoonie's parents raise him in Book One, Chapter 1? Why do they not dote on him?

4. What parting advice does Yangjin give Sunja before she gets on the train in Book One, Chapter 10?

5. What secrets does Noa keep to himself in Book Two, Chapter 4? Who does he keep these secrets from?

6. What does Hansu tell Kim Changho about the Korean nationalist groups in Book Two, Chapter Nine?

7. From Book One, Chapter 8, what happens in the Book of Hosea in the Bible and why?

8. What is Goro-san's character like and why is he so successful at Pachinko as described in Book Two, Chapter 12?

9. Why is Sunja so determined to pay off Yoseb’s debt in Book One, Chapter 16?

10. How is Mozasu becoming a "bad Korean"in Book Two, Chapter 10? What does he think about this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of Pachinko, the first sentence says, "History has failed us, but no matter" (5). Who is this "us"? How have they been "failed" by history? Who constructed this history that failed them? Develop an answer using four examples drawn from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Four generations of women are shown throughout Pachinko. From Yangjin, to Sunja and Kyunghee, to Yumi, Etsuko, and Ayame, and finally to Hana and Phoebe. What are liberties and abilities within each generation? How does a woman's role, or the role she can have, change over time? Choose two characters to compare and contrast how they live their lives according to the times. What historical changes allow a woman's life to be different from one generation or one experience to another? How are the choices of each character dependent or independent from the men in her life?

Essay Topic 3

Sunja and Etsuko are two characters shown in the role of a mother in Pachinko. Etsuko thinks that, "being a mother was what defined her more than any other thing" (406), and for Sunja, motherhood sets in place the events of the novel with the conception of Noa. How does motherhood define each of their lives? How do these women think similarly or differently about their relationship to their children? Why do they think this way, according to the times they were raised in, and according to what their parents taught them? What purpose do they contribute to in the novel by showing different pictures of motherhood?

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