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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was listed as Hyeonseo's father's cause of death after her mother had bribed the hospital authorities to falsify it?
(a) Heart attack.
(b) Stroke.
(c) Influenza.
(d) Suicide.

2. How many gradations of status exist within the three broad categories of songbun?
(a) 11.
(b) 51.
(c) 75.
(d) 36.

3. What location in Hyesan did Hyeonseo name as a "common site for public executions" (73)?
(a) The public square.
(b) The National Museum.
(c) The riverbank.
(d) The airport.

4. When the Socialist Youth League performed work in the summer, they dug tunnels around Hyeonseo's school. What type of work did they engage in during the other three seasons that year?
(a) Economic.
(b) Journalistic.
(c) Agricultural.
(d) Architectural.

5. What was the true cause of Hyeonseo's father's death?
(a) A bruised spleen.
(b) A fractured skull.
(c) Suicide.
(d) Influenza.

Short Answer Questions

1. What simile does Hyeonseo use to describe the fireball emanating from her childhood home?

2. What example is given of a person who would inhabit the lowest level of songbun?

3. On what condition had Hyeonseo's grandparents agreed to allow their son to marry Hyeonseo's mother?

4. In total, how many rooms did Hyeonseo's house near the river in Hyesan have?

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

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

3. How does Hyeonseo feel about her forced participation in the Socialist Youth League?

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

5. What beliefs about American people does Hyeonseo say are taught to every North Korean child?

6. What does the family's color television symbolize within the narrative?

7. 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)?

8. What reason does the author provide for her claim that her family's new home in Hyesan was perfect for her "mother's illicit enterprises" (57)?

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

10. How does Hyeonseo interpret the fortune-teller's announcement that Hyeonseo will have "a future connected with music" and will "eat foreign rice" (43)?

(see the answer keys)

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