View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Attendance at what event is mandatory for children from the time they enter North Korean elementary school?
(a) Public hangings.
(b) Taekwondo tournaments.
(c) National concerts.
(d) A children's party given on the anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth.

2. What was the last present Hyeonseo received from her father prior to his death?
(a) A bicycle.
(b) A doll.
(c) A tea set.
(d) A hula-hoop.

3. For North Korean citizens, joining the Young Pioneer Corps is compulsory in the years between what two ages?
(a) 6-12.
(b) 8-18.
(c) 10-16.
(d) 9-14.

4. About what malady is Hyeonseo speaking when she says that her father displayed signs of "an illness that is not acknowledged in North Korea" (67)?
(a) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
(b) Depression.
(c) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
(d) Anxiety.

5. What was the title of Hyeonseo's favorite song and is also the title of Chapter 10 of her memoir?
(a) Rocky Island.
(b) Come to Me.
(c) Gangnam Style.
(d) Jailhouse Rock.

Short Answer Questions

1. Hyeonseo's first memory consists of almost dying in what way?

2. Why does Hyeonseo not start kindergarten in Hyesan as she had thought she would?

3. Hyeonseo remarks that the family's home by the river in Hyesan was perfect for what?

4. What quality of Hyesan does Hyeonseo say leads to its status as a moneymaking town?

5. What trait does Hyeonseo say that she and her brother had in common with their mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event causes Hyeonseo to change her behavior of listening to South Korean pop with her friends?

2. What does the family's color television symbolize within the narrative?

3. What reason does the author provide for her claim that her family's new home in Hyesan was perfect for her "mother's illicit enterprises" (57)?

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

5. 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?

6. How does Hyeonseo interpret the fortune-teller's announcement that Hyeonseo will have "a future connected with music" and will "eat foreign rice" (43)?

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

8. What do the hills surrounding the city of Anju symbolize within the text?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,436 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample