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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. Who is Mozasu's favorite wrestler in Book Two, Chapter 11?

2. Why does Isak feel spoken to by the Lord to marry Sunja in Book One, Chapter 8?

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

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

5. What does Yangin go to get after Isak and Sunja’s marriage ceremony in Book One, Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sunja think about herself and her family when she realizes Hansu will not marry her in Book One, Chapter 6?

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

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

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

5. What things does Isak ask Sunja about marrying him in Book One, Chapter 9? Why does he ask these these?

6. Where and why are Pastor Yoo, Sexton Hu, and Isak arrested as described in Book Two, Chapter 2?

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

8. Why does Hansu tell Sunja she must leave Osaka in Book Two, Chapter 6? What does he tell her she must do?

9. What does Isak think about when he realizes he is sick with tuberculosis at the end of Book One, Chapter 3?

10. What does Yoseb think of the Japanese war in China in Book Two, Chapter 3? How does the way he thinks about it connect with the larger philosophy of Korean people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Mozasu and Hansu. They are both self-made men who build fortunes and seek to create a better, educated life for their sons. How are they similar and different in the ways they were raised and the way they conduct their lives? How does their backgrounds, as Koreans, as being poor, tie into their actions and aspirations? Develop a character study of each man and compare their similar actions throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

The theme of shame is prevalent throughout the novel Pachinko. When Sunja sleeps with Hansu, she brings shame upon herself and her family. Later in the novel, on the television show "Other Lands," a Japanese woman who has moved abroad says, "I have never been to Japan [...] but I hope wherever I am in life, I can be a good Japanese. I hope never to bring shame to my people" (419). Choose two characters and explore how shame shapes their lives. Where does this shame come from? What societal ideals or expectations hold up shame? Is it rational? How do characters find ways to absolve this pain?

Essay Topic 3

On Yangjin's deathbed, the following passage takes place:

"Go-saeng, Yangjin said out loud, "A woman's lot is to suffer."

"Yes, go-saeng," Kyunghee nodded, repeating the word for suffering.

All her life, Sunja had heard this sentiment from the other women, that they must suffer---suffer as a girl, suffer as a wife, suffer as a mother--die suffering. Go-saeng---the word made her sick. What else was there besides this. She had suffered to create a better life for Noa, and yet it was not enough. Should she have taught her son to suffer the humiliation that she'd drunk like water? In the end, he had refused to suffer the conditions of his birth. Did mother's fail by not telling their sons that suffering would come?" (420).

How in this passage and elsewhere is suffering different for women than it is from men? How are men allowed to live differently than women? And when Sunja thinks about teaching Noa to deal with suffering as she has, how is the way she has learned to handle the world different than the way he has learned? Analyze this passage, and then use two other examples in the text to support a claim.

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