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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. What was the sentence given to the family deported for the father's mistake of rolling a cigarette using a piece of newspaper and failing to notice a picture of the Great Leader on the other side of the scrap?

2. At what age does Hyeonseo first visit South Korea?

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

4. A bystander tells Hyeonseo's mother that the near-death experience is a good omen, for someone who survives a disaster at such a young age is sure to what?

5. What location in Hyesan did Hyeonseo name as a "common site for public executions" (73)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author say is the reason that "kindness toward strangers is rare in North Korea" (38)?

2. Where is Hyeonseo's family's new house in Hyesan located after they move back from Anju?

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

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

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

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

7. 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?

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

9. 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)?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The memoir does not shy away from including graphic and disturbing details when describing the horrors inflicted on the North Korean people by the ruling regime, such as the scene in which Hyeonseo witnesses a public hanging. Write a persuasive essay in which you argue for or against the use of this book in schools as a means to illuminate the ongoing human rights violations happening in North Korea.

Essay Topic 2

Despite the dire situations discussed within the narrative of The Girl with Seven Names, the theme of hope emerges again and again. Find instances of this theme's appearance throughout the memoir and explain how each instance is used by the author in order to demonstrate the value of hope when navigating through struggle.

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of scene in which Hyeonseo wears her new boots to school? How does the author use this event as a metaphor for a particular piece of her worldview and what message does she send to the reader through her relaying of this event?

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