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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 20, what does Goro-san tell Solomon about the old Korean woman’s property?

2. Where does Noa go to get a job after leaving university in Book Three, Chapter 1?

3. What had Noa not thought of before Akiko speaks out in class in Book Two, Chapter 15?

4. What does Akiko say to Noa about Hansu in Book Two, Chapter 19?

5. What is Noa's new name in Book Three, Chapter 5 for his life in Nagano?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Noa realize about Akiko's attitude towards him after she interrupts his meeting with Hansu in Book Two, Chapter 19?

2. What causes Etsuko's divorce as described in Book Three, Chapter 9? How has this affected her relationship with her children?

3. Why does Mozasu tell Yumi they can not move to America in Book Three, Chapter Two?

4. Why does Phoebe find it difficult to live in Japan as described in Book Three, Chapter 16?

5. How does Sunja meet Noa in Book Three, Chapter 8? What does she do when she sees him?

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

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

8. What does Kuroda-san lecture about the Jewish people in Daniel Deronda that Akiko reacts against in Book Two, Chapter 15?

9. What does Kyunghee say to Kim Changho's marriage proposal in Book Two, Chapter 13, and how does Kim respond?

10. What does Noa's letter to Sunja and the Baek family say Book Two, Chapter Twenty after he learns Hansu is his father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the narrative voice of Pachinko? Compare Chapter One to any of the following chapters (Book One, Chapter Five; Book Two, Chapter Nine; Book Three, Chapter One; Book Three, Chapter Two; Book Three, Chapter Fifteen) and analyze the narration style. Who is speaking throughout the different sections? When do characters speak and when are we told the words they say? When does the novel go inside the character's heads? Name the narration styles used according to what you have learned in class. Then analyze the effect of the narration styles used. What is the novel trying to show through its choices? How do different narration styles create a different effect?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

The theme of shame is prevalent throughout the novel Pachinko. When Sunja sleeps with Hansu, she brings shame upon herself and her family. Later in the novel, on the television show "Other Lands," a Japanese woman who has moved abroad says, "I have never been to Japan [...] but I hope wherever I am in life, I can be a good Japanese. I hope never to bring shame to my people" (419). Choose two characters and explore how shame shapes their lives. Where does this shame come from? What societal ideals or expectations hold up shame? Is it rational? How do characters find ways to absolve this pain?

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