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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 does Kyunghee say to Kim when he proposes to marry her in Book Two, Chapter 14?

2. At the end of Book Three, Chapter 12, what does Yangjin want to do before she dies that she is not able to do?

3. Where does Ayame want to move after Totoyama-san's death in Book Three, Chapter 6?

4. In Book Three, Chapter 2, who comes to help out Yumi while she is bedridden?

5. Why does Etsuko's husband divorce her as described in Book Three, Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Noa realize about Akiko's attitude towards him after she interrupts his meeting with Hansu in Book Two, Chapter 19?

2. What does Hana tell Solomon in their final meeting in Book Three, Chapter 20?

3. How does Mozasu remember experiencing Yumi's funeral in Book Three, Chapter 3?

4. What does Yangjin say in her pent-up final thoughts to Sunja in Book Three, Chapter 12?

5. What does Noa's letter to Sunja and the Baek family say Book Two, Chapter Twenty after he learns Hansu is his father?

6. How does Solomon get his name as told in Book Three, Chapter 10?

7. Why does Solomon get fired from his job in Book Three, Chapter 19?

8. Why does Mozasu tell Yumi they can not move to America in Book Three, Chapter Two?

9. What does Etsuko think about her role as a mother in Book Three, Chapter 10?

10. In Book Three, Chapter 21, what does Sunja find inside her bag while at Isak's grave and what does she do with it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Isak tells Noa on his deathbed that "Men may be unfair, but the Lord is fair. You'll see. You will" (196). Does this idea that everything is fair in the end hold true for the novel? Choose two characters and explore their actions. Is what happens to them in the novel fair? Are their actions or what happens to them counterbalanced by anything else? What definition of "fairness" does the novel show?

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

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.

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