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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. In Book Three, Chapter 4, what illness does Hansu tell Sunja he has?

2. What does Hana say she has been doing for work in Book Three, Chapter 15?

3. What does Kyunghee say to Kim when he proposes to marry her in Book Two, Chapter 14?

4. What does Phoebe tell Solomon when she learns about Hana in Book Three, Chapter 15?

5. What is Akiko studying in university in Book Two, Chapter 18?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Book Three, Chapter 21, what does Sunja find inside her bag while at Isak's grave and what does she do with it?

2. What does Solomon want to do for his and Hana's relationship in Book Three, Chapter 14?

3. What does Kazu explain to Solomon as a "shit tax" in Book Three, Chapter 17?

4. In Book Three, Chapter Twenty, what does Goro-san say happened with the Korean woman's property that Solomon asked him to purchase? What does Solomon realize when he hears this?

5. What leads Haruki to become a police officer as described in Book Two, Chapter 17? Who recommends him to join?

6. Why does Sunja go to Koh Hansu with Noa in Book Two, Chapter 13 What does Koh Hansu say?

7. What does Yangjin say in her pent-up final thoughts to Sunja in Book Three, Chapter 12?

8. Why have Hana and Solomon begun to hang out in Book Three, Chapter 13? How does Hana think of Solomon?

9. What does Hana tell Solomon in their final meeting in Book Three, Chapter 20?

10. How does Solomon get his name as told in Book Three, Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Noa and Mozasu are raised alongside one another and eventually both come to be working in pachinko parlors in different places in Japan. While Noa eventually commits suicide, Mozasu continues along working and raising his son. How do their different outlooks on life lead to different futures for them? Use at least three examples for each of the brothers to compare how they are similar and/or different. How does their upbringing, knowledge of their father, or things they are told about the world shape the actions in their lives? Finally, extend this larger: what does the novel show by putting these two characters alongside one another?

Essay Topic 2

At the end of the novel, David Copperfield is brought up as Noa's favorite novel. Why does he like this particular book? Choose another example of intertexuality in the book (such as the Bible, the book of "Hosea, "Daniel Deronda," the epigraphs at the beginning of each book). How do these stories map out and connect to the story in the novel? Do some background research and pull excerpts from the intertextual sources to support its connection to Pachinko. How does having multiple examples of intertextuality expand different sections of the text?

Essay Topic 3

Both Yoseb and Isak begin wanting to support their families, and then are in some way injured or kept from being able to provide. What are each of these men's outlook on life in the beginning of the novel? And then with the events that happen to them, how does their outlook on life change or stay the same? What keeps their character in place? Or what pushes them to snap? Compare and contrast their experiences, and create a thesis answering what leads them to act differently from one another when there are divergences.

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