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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 Yoseb tell Isak about political groups in Book One, Chapter 13?

2. What does Hansu tell Sunja that she must do at the end of Book Two, Chapter 6?

3. Why does Kyunghee think she still may be able to have children in Book One, Chapter 15?

4. What does Yoseb name Isak and Sunja’s new baby boy in Book One, Chapter 17?

5. Why can Yoseb not leave his work when Noa tells him Isak is home in Book Two, Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the Chung brothers say that Japan will never conquer China in Book One, Chapter 2? Why do they support China?

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

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

4. What figurative language does Sunja use to think about the stories Koh Hansu tells her in Book One, Chapter 5? Why does she try to store everything he tells her?

5. What is Kyunghee's dream she tells to Sunja in Book One, Chapter 15 and why can she not do it?

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

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

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

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

10. From Book One, Chapter 8, what happens in the Book of Hosea in the Bible and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The role of sex and the way romantic relationships are formed changes throughout Pachinko from beginning to end. What brings about these changes? Research some of the historical background and use at least three sources to support your essay. How did historical changes and modern inventions change the way relationships were formed and consummated? How is love a part or absent from romantic relationships at different times? Relate at least two characters, one from the beginning of the novel and one from the end, to show how the historical background relates to the novel.

Essay Topic 2

When Noa writes the Baek family after finding out Hansu is his father, Yoseb thinks, "he could understand the boy's anger, but he wanted another chance to talk to him, to tell Noa that a man must learn to forgive---to know what is important, that to live without forgiveness was a ind of death with breathing and movement" (318-19).

Choose at least two examples of characters either asking for, or have already asked for, forgiveness. How do their choices to forgive or not to forgive affect their lives and mental outlooks? Who asks for forgiveness and why? For the person who is asked for forgiveness, why or why not do they choose to forgive? Compare these examples to examine how forgiveness is a theme in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

In the third book of Pachinko, with the war over, Japan begins to rebuild and Western influences begin to change society. What new ideas are introduced? How does this shape what the characters think of and what they want? What characters display new ideas or Western influence? Akiko and Yumi may be two examples of characters whose outlook is shaped by the ideas of the United States and Europe. Use at least three examples from the novel to develop a thesis: How does the outside influence of the United States, Europe, and the West affect the characters lives in the third book of Pachinko?

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