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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 does Sunja think when she first sees Hansu again in Book One, Chapter 6?

2. What does Yoseb tell Isak about political groups in Book One, Chapter 13?

3. What does Yoseb try to think about the Japanese police officer who he asks to release Isak in Book Two, Chapter 1?

4. Why is Yoseb brought to Tamaguchi’s farm in Book Two, Chapter 8?

5. Why is Pastor Shin hesitant to marry Isak and Sunja in Book One, Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. What things does Isak ask Sunja about marrying him in Book One, Chapter 9? Why does he ask these these?

2. How does Sunja deal with Mozasu's fighting in Book Two, Chapter 11?

3. How is Mozasu becoming a "bad Korean"in Book Two, Chapter 10? What does he think about this?

4. What secrets does Noa keep to himself in Book Two, Chapter 4? Who does he keep these secrets from?

5. In Book Two, Chapter 5, why does Isak tell Noa he must still go to school even though Isak is dying?

6. What does the ajumma tell Sunja about a women's life and the man she will marry in Chapter Three?

7. What does Isak think about when he realizes he is sick with tuberculosis at the end of Book One, Chapter 3?

8. What parting advice does Yangjin give Sunja before she gets on the train in Book One, Chapter 10?

9. Why is Sunja so determined to pay off Yoseb’s debt in Book One, Chapter 16?

10. How do Hoonie's parents raise him in Book One, Chapter 1? Why do they not dote on him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the beginning of Pachinko, Hoonie's parents raise him according to the ideal that, "a spoiled son did more harm to the family than a dead one" (6). Later, we see characters such as Sunja and Hansu thinking and speaking about how their parents treated them. We see Noa commit suicide based on his parentage. How does the way different parents raise their children affect the way these children represent their families and carry out their lives? How do they raise their children as a result? Use at least two characters to develop an argument. Finally, does what Hoonie's parents use for raising their son hold true for the rest of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Pachinko for its protagonist/antagonist relationships and overall structure. Choose two of the protagonist/antagonist relationships to compare to one another. How do you know one character is the protagonist and the other is the antagonist? What effect is achieved in the novel by having multiple protagonists and antagonists at different points in the novel? Use at least two textual examples to support your argument for each of the protagonist/antagonist relationships you choose.

Essay Topic 3

Sunja and Etsuko are two characters shown in the role of a mother in Pachinko. Etsuko thinks that, "being a mother was what defined her more than any other thing" (406), and for Sunja, motherhood sets in place the events of the novel with the conception of Noa. How does motherhood define each of their lives? How do these women think similarly or differently about their relationship to their children? Why do they think this way, according to the times they were raised in, and according to what their parents taught them? What purpose do they contribute to in the novel by showing different pictures of motherhood?

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