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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Even though it meant shopping for food every day, for what reason did Hyeonseo's mother eschew the latest trend of buying a refrigerator from China?
(a) There are too many blackouts.
(b) She did not have enough money.
(c) She did not want to attract attention.
(d) She did not know how to hide it from the police.

2. What does seo mean in Korean?
(a) Good fortune.
(b) Smile.
(c) Wealth.
(d) Health.

3. What level of the caste system is made up of 10-15% of the North Korean population?
(a) Wavering.
(b) Royal.
(c) Kim family employees.
(d) Elite.

4. To what city does Hyeonseo's family move after leaving Hyesan?
(a) Pyongyang.
(b) Hamhung.
(c) Wonsan.
(d) Anju.

5. What unconventional and technically illegal hairstyle did Hyeonseo wear while attending school in Hyesan?
(a) A perm.
(b) A mohawk.
(c) A fringe.
(d) A bob.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are the bowibu?

2. At what age are North Koreans forced to join the Socialist Youth League?

3. What does hyeon mean in Korean?

4. What red article of clothing did Hyeonseo wear to school that caused the teacher to call her a capitalist and to slap her face?

5. Attendance at what event is mandatory for children from the time they enter North Korean elementary school?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of language as a tool of manipulation present within the North Korean campaign of 1992?

2. When Hyeonseo's grandmother tells her the truth about her biological father and stepfather, what is Hyeonseo's response and what does she say that she should have done instead?

3. What does Hyeonseo mean when she tells the reader, "We were now living in a sensitive area, politically," in relation to the family's home in Hyesan (59)?

4. What is the "only permitted outlet for spiritual fervor" (41) in North Korea and what does the author say is the punishment for seeking out different means of spirituality?

5. What beliefs about American people does Hyeonseo say are taught to every North Korean child?

6. What does the author claim is ironic about North Korea's beginnings as a communist state?

7. What are the two types of prison in the gulag?

8. What quality of her mother's personality does Hyeonseo state is an unusual trait for a woman of high songbun?

9. What is ironic about the North Korean government's use of the term "people's trial" (27)?

10. How are the themes of money and freedom linked within the scene in which Hyeonseo's mother is caught on the street wearing trousers?

(see the answer keys)

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