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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. Hyeonseo's first memory consists of almost dying in what way?
(a) Almost drowning.
(b) Almost being beaten to death by a soldier.
(c) Almost suffocating.
(d) Almost getting hit by a train.

2. What simile does Hyeonseo use to describe the fireball emanating from her childhood home?
(a) Like a peony.
(b) Like a chrysanthemum.
(c) Like a snapdragon.
(d) Like a water lily.

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

4. What was the last present Hyeonseo received from her father prior to his death?
(a) A tea set.
(b) A hula-hoop.
(c) A doll.
(d) A bicycle.

5. What did Hyeonseo do when she saw the starving infant and its mother in the market outside Wiyeon Station?
(a) She put money in the mother's hand.
(b) She flagged down a policeman.
(c) She called for an ambulance.
(d) She put money on the baby's lap.

Short Answer Questions

1. What border was Hyeonseo's father crossing when he was arrested?

2. What aspect of the songbun system is kept secret from those residing within its levels?

3. A bystander tells Hyeonseo's mother that the near-death experience is a good omen, for someone who survives a disaster at such a young age is sure to what?

4. How many broad categories exist within the caste system of songbun?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. What is ironic about the North Korean government's use of the term "people's trial" (27)?

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

7. What major rite of passage within North Korea's culture does Hyeonseo undergo when she is 14 years old?

8. 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)?

9. What is the "only permitted outlet for spiritual fervor" (41) in North Korea and what does the author say is the punishment for seeking out different means of spirituality?

10. How are the themes of money and freedom linked within the scene in which Hyeonseo's mother is caught on the street wearing trousers?

(see the answer keys)

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