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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. From Book Three, Chapter 16, what question from Japanese people causes Phoebe to overreact?

2. From Book Three, Chapter 5, why does Iwamura-san not like Noa?

3. In Book Three, Chapter 12, what TV show do Kyunghee, Sunja, and Yangjin watch together?

4. What news do the policemen bring Mozasu in Book Three, Chapter 3?

5. In Book Three, Chapter 10, what does Hana say about Etsuko being a mother?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where does Etsuko finally find Hana in Book Three, Chapter 15? What does Etsuko do when she sees her?

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

4. What does Etsuko think about her role as a mother in Book Three, Chapter 10?

5. Why does Solomon get fired from his job in Book Three, Chapter 19?

6. What case does Haruki go to investigate in Book Three, Chapter 7? What does Haruki learn when he meets the boy’s parents?

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

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

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

10. Why is Mozasu promoted to foreman of Paradaisu Seven in Book Two, Chapter 16?

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

Isak tells Noa on his deathbed that "Men may be unfair, but the Lord is fair. You'll see. You will" (196). Does this idea that everything is fair in the end hold true for the novel? Choose two characters and explore their actions. Is what happens to them in the novel fair? Are their actions or what happens to them counterbalanced by anything else? What definition of "fairness" does the novel show?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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