View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does hyeon mean in Korean?
(a) Sunshine.
(b) Good fortune.
(c) Wealth.
(d) Smile.

2. What is NOT a quality named by Hyeonseo in her list of beliefs North Koreans held about The Great Leader before his death?
(a) The Great Leader does not urinate.
(b) The Great Leader is immortal.
(c) The Great Leader does not sleep.
(d) The Great Leader is omniscient.

3. Who are the bowibu?
(a) Secret police in Laos.
(b) Secret police in South Korea.
(c) Secret police in North Korea.
(d) Secret police in North Korea.

4. What insects did Hyeonseo's teacher point out to the class during their field trip in order to say that even they were "sad at the Great Leader's death" (72)?
(a) Crickets.
(b) Dragonflies.
(c) Butterflies.
(d) Bees.

5. Why does Hyeonseo's mother carry a candle to the door when meeting Hyeonseo's future father and her future husband for the second time?
(a) Because the power in the country is out.
(b) Because her father does not permit her to waste money on electricity at night.
(c) Because the power in the city is out.
(d) Because she thinks it will lend a romantic air to their reunion.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what age does Hyeonseo witness her first public execution?

2. What organization had Hyeonseo's grandmother joined at the age of 19?

3. What level of the caste system is made up of 10-15% of the North Korean population?

4. Even though it meant shopping for food every day, for what reason did Hyeonseo's mother eschew the latest trend of buying a refrigerator from China?

5. At what age are North Koreans forced to join the Socialist Youth League?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of appearance versus reality demonstrated within the description of Hyeonseo's mother's behavior once her husband has been detained for ten days?

2. When Hyeonseo's grandmother tells her the truth about her biological father and stepfather, what is Hyeonseo's response and what does she say that she should have done instead?

3. What event causes Hyeonseo to change her behavior of listening to South Korean pop with her friends?

4. Where is Hyeonseo's family's new house in Hyesan located after they move back from Anju?

5. What do the hills surrounding the city of Anju symbolize within the text?

6. How is Hyeonseo's mother's devotion to Hyeonseo's father demonstrated in the scene when Hyeonseo's father does not return on time from his business trip to China?

7. What quality of her mother's personality does Hyeonseo state is an unusual trait for a woman of high songbun?

8. How is the theme of language as a tool of manipulation present within the North Korean campaign of 1992?

9. What does Hyeonseo mean when she tells the reader, "We were now living in a sensitive area, politically," in relation to the family's home in Hyesan (59)?

10. What are the two types of prison in the gulag?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,233 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample