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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 time is it when the woman enters the theater in "Erato: Love Poetry"?

2. What color is the young girl's kerchief in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

3. In "Thalia: Comedy," what is the purpose of the letter from "a friend"?

4. How is the person supposed to wait in "Terpischore: Choral Dance"?

5. What announces the call in "Thalia: Comedy"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the parallel between the ritual of becoming a nun and that of becoming a wife.

2. Describe the wife's relationship with her husband in "Erato: Love Poetry."

3. How does speech relate to memory in "Elitere: Lyric Poetry"?

4. Why is the young girl at the well in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

5. Describe the woman's experience of the cinema in "Erato: Love Poetry."

6. What is the significance of the series of concentric circles in "Polymnia: Sacred Poetry"?

7. Discuss the ending of "Terpischore: Choral Dance." What sentiment do the closing lines leave you with?

8. Why does Cha include the second, handwritten, letter to Mrs. Laura Claxton?

9. Describe the earth in "Terpischore: Choral Dance."

10. Compare "memory" with "second memory." How are these passages alike or different?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cha's Dictee centers on women in every section. Explore the myriad, often contradictory, roles of women in the work. Compare their roles across various cultures and time frames. How does their role change in these various settings? How does it remain the same? Why does Cha focus almost exclusively on women?

Essay Topic 2

Much of Cha's text deals with the experience of being a Korean-American woman in the period following the Korean War. How does she treat this experience? How does she comment on her place and/or reception within U.S. American culture? Is she nostalgic for Korea? Proud to be an American? Both? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

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?

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