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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. What calendar dates the birth of Yu Guan Soon?

2. In "Melpomene: Tragedy," why are students shot during the demonstration?

3. When does Mother take the train home?

4. What type of illustrations appear in the "Urania: Astronomy"?

5. Where was Mother born?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Cha include images of the circulatory system, the nervous system, and the respiratory system in in "Urania: Astronomy," a section dedicated to astronomy?

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

5. Describe Mother's ideas about what people do just before death.

6. What is Mother's MAH-UHM? Where is it trapped?

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

8. In "Calliope: Epic Poetry," how does the narrator attempt to communicate with her mother?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's play with genre in the novel. How does Cha manipulate various genres and forms in her work? Does Cha break genre conventions in a way that expands our notions of what a book can do? Or does she simply overstep the bounds of what a book should do? Provide evidence and support for your analysis.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the narrative voice in the book. Who is speaking throughout each section? How do these voices work to form a singular text? Do they present a coherent message or do they contradict one another? How does Cha's manipulation of narrative voice contribute to a work, which unites several women across various generations and cultures?

Essay Topic 3

Family plays a significant role in Cha's Dictee. Describe the way family members are linked throughout the work, then address the following questions. How does Cha treat family in this work? What role to family relations play in the narrator's decisions? How does the narrator perceive family? What does Cha's commentary about family appear to be?

(see the answer keys)

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