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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 job does Hyeonseo perform within her role at the cosmetics company in the Mihang district?

2. When Hyeonseo asks the North Korean waitress where her plastic surgery had performed, what is the waitress's reply?

3. What does Hyeonseo eventually find out had happened to the money she had given to her mother?

4. What punishment does Hyeonseo impose on herself for hurting Geun-soo?

5. Who stands up for Hyeonseo when the customer yells that Hyeonseo has misunderstood his request because she is North Korean?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the considerations that cause Hyeonseo to waffle in her decision about whether or not to go to South Korea?

2. What emotion does Hyeonseo say she feels after her mother tells her over the phone that she should not return to North Korea?

3. What does Hyeonseo describe as "the cloud" (160) in her sky once she gets settled in her new job in Xita, gets her driving license, lives in her own apartment, and feels more confident in general?

4. How does Hyeonseo acquire her new identification card while living in China?

5. What reasons does Hyeonseo provide for her tendency to forget she is North Korean once she has been in Shanghai for a full year?

6. What does Hyeonseo long for just before she again meets her previous acquaintance Ok-hee?

7. To what location does the title of Part Two refer?

8. What major piece of information does Hyeonseo find out from her regular waitress at Pyongyang Okryugwan and how does the information demonstrate the theme of social stratification?

9. What is symbolized by Hyeonseo's "fashionable new shoes" (101) that she wears on her journey into China?

10. How does Hyeonseo characterize Min-ho's view of money and how his views represent those of all North Koreans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Within the memoir, the manipulation of language in order to shift people's perspectives is a common theme, such as the North Korean regime's use of the phrase The Arduous March as a euphemism for the deadly famine sweeping the country. Discuss the theme of language manipulation throughout the memoir and relate it to manipulation of language within modern politics.

Essay Topic 2

Many instances of irony are included in the memoir's narrative, including the scene in which Hyeonseo's boyfriend reveals to her that he is exhausted due to rounding up so many North Koreans in one day. Find three other instances of irony within the memoir and discuss each instance's significance.

Essay Topic 3

The theme of power is one that comes up over and over within the memoir's narrative, particularly in relation to Hyeonseo's feelings of powerlessness and subsequent realizations about the power she does indeed hold. Choose three instances when Hyeonseo realizes that she does, indeed, carry power, even within her often precarious situation. Discuss how these realizations help to shape the author's message regarding power.

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