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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. How does Mother repay her college loans?
(a) By teaching in an assigned post in the country.
(b) By working as a petty laborer in a camp.
(c) By working as a kitchen aid.
(d) By working for the Manchurian government.

2. What does the map at the beginning of "Melpomene: Tragedy" indicate?
(a) The division between North and South Korea.
(b) The land taken by Japan.
(c) The area of Manchuria to which Mother fled.
(d) The land of Korea left after the Japanese occupation.

3. According to the anonymous narrator in "Clio: History," without which of the following can there be no people?
(a) A leader.
(b) An anthem.
(c) A nation or an ancestry.
(d) A language.

4. What birds does the narrator hear in "Urania: Astronomy"?
(a) Cardinals.
(b) Doves.
(c) Geese.
(d) Swans.

5. Upon receiving citizenship in the U.S., what document does Mother receive?
(a) A U.S. Passport.
(b) A certificate.
(c) An identification badge.
(d) She receives no documents.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color is the fluid that emerges during the medical procedure in "Urania: Astronomy"?

2. Who is the author of the quote which proceeds the Opening?

3. What medical procedure begins "Urania: Astronomy"?

4. In "Urania: Astronomy," what does the narrator say she can do without?

5. Which of the following is absent from the Korea that the narrator visits?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the break down in the translation exercise in the opening, particularly beginning with exercise number 5 in the second set of translations. Why does the grammar, tone, and voice shift?

2. In "Urania: Astronomy," what does the tongue image symbolize?

3. Why does Cha include a quoted section of Japanese-Korean history in "Clio: History"?

4. What is the significance of the italicized passages in the "Opening"?

5. Explain the letter to Mother in "Melpomene: Tragedy."

6. Although the text is written in English, many of the forms and structures Cha uses do not adhere to standards of American English. Some of the translation passages, in particular, seem to have a structure that evinces first-language influence. Do you think the translation passages were originally written in English? Why or why not?

7. In "Urania: Astronomy," why does the poetry appear in side-by-side translation?

8. Discuss the significance of the title which first appears in the "Opening." What does "dictee" mean? How does it fit the work?

9. Describe the medical procedure in "Urania: Astronomy."

10. Describe the circumstances of the narrator's brother's death.

(see the answer keys)

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