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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. After the Japanese leave, what flies next to the Korean flag?

2. What happens when Sookan crawls under the barbed wire fence?

3. At the Little Proletariat School, what are the children given as an incentive to talk about their families?

4. Using his job as a cover, what does Sookan's father do?

5. While being interrogated in the guardhouse, where do the children say they are going?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a "Worker's Paradise"?

2. Describe Mrs. Kim.

3. How does the old man at the train station help Sookan and Inchun?

4. What do you think is the real reason the guide wanted Mother to separate from Sookan and Inchun?

5. Why are the school children encouraged to talk about their home life?

6. After the Japanese have left and the Russians invade, why doesn't America come to help the Koreans in the North?

7. After losing Mother at the guard station, how do the children look?

8. How does the old man in the train station approach Sookan and Inchun?

9. How do Aunt Tiger and Mother feel about Communism and why?

10. Do you think that Korea is better off with the Russians than the Japanese?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the antagonists of the story, perhaps mentioning:

1) Captain Narita

2) Narita Sensei

3) Comrade Kim

Essay Topic 2

Explain Sookan and Inchun's journey from Pyongyang to Seoul and the dangers therein.

Essay Topic 3

Explore and discuss examples of compassion exhibited by characters within "Year of Impossible Goodbyes."

(see the answer keys)

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