Pachinko

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Book 1, Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. What do Hoonie’s parents do?

2. What is the name of Hoonie and Yangjin’s daughter?

3. What is Isak’s brother’s name?

4. Why does Yangjin move Isak to the storage room?

Multiple Choice

1. Why do Hoonie’s parents worry that he won’t be able to marry?

A) He has a cleft palate and twisted foot.

B) He has no interest in marriage.

C) He wishes to become a priest.

D) He wants to join the military to fight Japan.

2. Why does Yangjin stay out of conversations about politics with the lodgers?

A) She never agrees with them.

B) She worries that the authorities will arrest her for speaking out against the Japanese government.

C) She thinks that it could cause trouble for the boardinghouse.

D) She wants Sunja to follow her example.

3. Why does Sunja start talking to Koh Hansu?

A) She is dared to do so by another woman at the market.

B) He saves her from three boys who try to assault her.

C) Yangjin has started making comments about her need to marry.

D) Koh Hansu threatens her family.

4. What is the most likely reason that Sunja feels like she betrayed Hoonie?

A) She thinks about going to Osaka with Hansu and feels guilty because she promised her father that she would never leave Yangjin.

B) She told Hansu about the secret place Hoonie had shown her for finding mushrooms.

C) She fell in love with a man who lives in Japan.

D) She got pregnant before she got married.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Yangjin provide food for the lodgers even though it is in the middle of the Great Depression?

2. Why does Yangjin allow Isak to stay at the boarding house even though it is full?

3. Why does Sunja like washing clothes?

4. What is Hansu’s response to Sunja telling him that she is pregnant?

Book 1, Chapters 7-11

Reading Check

1. How does Isak’s oldest brother, Samoel, die?

2. What does Isak ask of Sunja after asking her to marry him?

3. What do Dokhee and Bokhee give Sunja as a going away present?

4. Why does Yangjin keep packing and repacking Sunja’s bag?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Yangjin tell Isak about Sunja’s pregnancy?

A) She wants him to feel sorry for her and stop asking her to go for walks with her.

B) She plans to ask him for some money because of the extra strain another mouth will put on the boarding house.

C) She feels comfortable with him.

D) She hopes that he will ask to marry Sunja.

2. To whom does Isak first speak about his plan to ask Sunja to marry him?

A) Sunja

B) Pastor Shin

C) Yangjin

D) Hoonie

3. What might be the reason that Yangjin tells Sunja about Pastor Isak’s plan to propose to her, even though Pastor Isak has told Yangjin that he’d like to be the one Sunja hears it from first?

A) Yangjin wants to convince Sunja to say “yes.”

B) Yangjin needs Sunja to understand it’s okay if she says “no” and that she will support her.

C) Yangjin wants Sunja to tell her who is the father of her child.

D) Yangjin wants Sunja to be prepared that such a big question is coming.

4. Why does Yangjin buy white rice even though it is more expensive?

A) Isak specifically requested it for his wedding day.

B) She wanted Sunja’s wedding day to be special.

C) She wanted to give it to Isak as a way of saying thank you for marrying Sunja.

D) She and Hoonie ate white rice on their wedding day.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Did Hoonie have political opinions? If so, why did he keep them to himself?

2. What connection is there between Isak’s decision to marry Sunja and his faith?

3. How does Sunja feel after she finally reveals who the father of her baby is to her mother? Why?

4. Why does Yangjin give Sunja the two gold rings from her mother-in-law?

Book 1, Chapters 12-17

Reading Check

1. What are Isak’s brothers’ names?

2. What is Isak’s boss’s name?

3. What does Sunja sell to pay Yoseb’s debt?

4. What is the name given to Sunja’s baby?

Multiple Choice

1. Before coming to Osaka, why had Isak considered contacting those fighting against Korean colonization by the Japanese?

A) He wanted to give up his career as a pastor.

B) He hoped to find out what really happened to his brother Samoel.

C) He thought it was the Christian thing to do.

D) He hoped to meet someone and fall in love.

2. Why doesn’t Kyunghee run her own business?

A) She is Korean, and the Japanese government doesn’t allow Koreans to operate their own businesses.

B) She isn’t able to read.

C) She doesn’t want to run it.

D) Yoseb doesn’t believe that women should work for money.

3. Why was Yoseb in debt?

A) He used the money to pay for Sunja and Isak’s passage to Osaka.

B) He wanted more money to send to his parents in Pyongyang.

C) He has a gambling addiction.

D) He used the money to pay rent.

4. What does Isak’s insistence that Yoseb should name the baby because he is “the head of our house here” show?

A) It shows the difference between Japanese and Korean culture.

B) It shows that Isak will always defer to his brother.

C) It shows what the specific gender roles and hierarchy are during this time.

D) It shows how Yoseb wants to have all control over the house.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Yoseb know Sunja’s family?

2. What surprises Isak about his new job as an assistant pastor?

3. Why is Yoseb upset that Sunja and Kyunghee paid his debt for him?

4. Why are Koreans treated differently than other people in Japan?

Book 2, Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. What is Noa’s brother’s name?

2. What else does Sunja sell besides kimchi?

3. Where does Sunja eventually make her kimchi?

4. What news does Isak give Sunja when he returns home from jail?

Multiple Choice

1. Why has Yoseb changed his mind about Sunja being able to work?

A) He understands that women are just as capable as men.

B) He knows that, with Isak in jail, they need the money.

C) He sees that it is important to her. 

D) He wants to give Isak a reason to leave Sunja.

2. Why does Noa scream when he arrives home to find Isak?

A) He doesn’t recognize him since he has just returned from prison.

B) He realizes that Isak isn’t his biological father.

C) He thought life was better without Isak.

D) He is worried that Mozasu will get more attention now that Isak is home.

3. Why was Isak sent home?

A) He finished his sentence in prison.

B) He escaped from prison. 

C) He was allowed to leave because Sunja bribed a guard.

D) He was about to die, and the prison didn’t want him to die there.

4. What evidence suggests that Sunja has fallen in love with Isak since she married him? 

A) She stays home with him after he returns from prison.

B) She is baptized.

C) She believes that there is no one as good as him, especially since he never brought up Noa’s father.

D) She tells Yoseb that she has done so.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Yoseb particularly concerned about Isak’s arrest?

2. Why is selling kimchi important to Sunja?

3. Why isn’t Yoseb able to leave right away when Noa tells him that Isak has returned home?

4. Why does Noa go to school even though he wants to stay home with Isak?

Book 2, Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Who does Sunja see again when she moves to Tamaguchi-san’s farm?

2. What historical event happens during this set of chapters?

3. Which brother dislikes school?

4. What job does Noa get?

Multiple Choice

1. Why did Hansu create the job for Sunja in Osaka? 

A) He wants her to leave her husband for him.

B) He wants to provide for his son by ensuring that his mother has work.

C) He wants to make her his mistress again.

D) He wants to show her that he controls her life.

2. Why does Tamaguchi-san limit the amount of alcohol Yoseb receives?

A) He doesn’t want him to become an alcoholic.

B) He has very little left and wants to ration it.

C) He wants Yoseb to suffer because he is Korean.

D) He has poured it all out.

3. Why does Hansu lie about Yoseb’s and Kyunghee’s parents being dead?

A) He dislikes them because they are Korean.

B) He knows that they are alive, but he plans to have them killed. 

C) He hopes that Yoseb will then separate from Sunja since the rest of his family is dead and she has her mother now.

D) He doesn’t want them to have any reason to go back to Korea so that Noa will remain in Japan.

4. Why does Sunja think it is most likely that Dokhee and Bokhee have died? 

A) When her mother tells her that they went with a woman from Seoul, Sunja remembers that Hansu had warned her about the same thing when she was young.

B) Hansu has already told her that they are dead, as he tried to bring them with Yangjin to Tamaguchi’s farm.

C) She knows that little of Yeongdo has remained as it was before she left.

D) She has written to the two sisters and received no response.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Hansu convince Sunja to leave Osaka?

2. Why does Mozasu ask Noa about Isak?

3. How is the family able to reclaim their property?

4. How do Yeongdo and Japan compare in Sunja’s mind?

Book 2, Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. Where does Mozasu begin working?

2. Why does the seamstress Totoyama cry once Goro and Mozasu leave?

3. Who does Yoseb tell Changho he can marry?

4. Who wrote Daniel Deronda?

Multiple Choice

1. Why is it especially dangerous that Mozasu punched a Japanese man while defending his friend? 

A) It could be Koh Hansu, who would then stop providing for Noa.

B) According to Japanese laws, his mother could be arrested for not controlling her child.

C) The Japanese were especially biased against Koreans like Mozasu.

D) Their family was already associated with resistance because of Mozasu’s father, and this could only draw more attention to them.

2. What is the most likely reason that Changho goes to North Korea?

A) He wishes to marry Kyunghee, but she won’t even discuss the possibility until after Yoseb dies.

B) He is aching to see his family.

C) He wishes to marry Sunja, but he won’t marry her because of his relationship with Hansu.

D) He is tired of waiting around.

3. What does Akiko’s interpretation of Daniel Deronda have to do with what’s happening with Korea and Japan?

A) The novel takes place in Japan, and many of the students reading it are Korean.

B) The novel tackles questions of national identity, which is a reminder of how Koreans are treated as lesser in Japan.

C) The novel helps Noa to think more about his identity as both Korean and Japanese.

D) The novel reminds Noa about the story of his mother’s life and her move from Korea to Japan.

4. Why does Sunja try to get Hansu to consider the money he spent on Noa’s education as a loan? 

A) She wants Noa to understand the value of hard work in having to pay for his own education.

B) She wants Hansu to know that his son is a hard worker.

C) She wants Hansu to have less control over Noa’s life.

D) She wants to show Hansu that she can care for her children on her own.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What change do we see in Mozasu’s behavior once he begins working at the pachinko parlor?

2. Why doesn’t Yoseb agree that they should let Hansu pay for Noa’s tuition at Waseda University?

3. What does Sunja tell Kyunghee after Changho leaves?

4. Why is Noa impressed with Akiko?

Book 2, Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the pachinko parlor that Mozasu manages?

2. Where has Mozasu learned English?

3. What is Haruki’s job?

4. With whom has Noa begun a sexual relationship?

Multiple Choice

1. Why is Haruki nervous around Mozasu now that they’ve finished school?

A) He knows how much business Mozasu generates for his mother, and he doesn’t want to offend him and have it cost his mother Mozasu’s business.

B) He is afraid that Mozasu will beat him up since he’s always been weaker than him.

C) He has a crush on Mozasu’s girlfriend, Yumi.

D) He is gay and has feelings for Mozasu, though Mozasu doesn’t know.

2. Why does Yumi want to move to America?

A) She wants to escape the terrible treatment Koreans receive in Japan.

B) She has family there, and they have secured a job for her.

C) She believes that she can become a famous Hollywood actress.

D) She has a fiancé there.

3. What is the most accurate reason for Noa’s decision to break up with Akiko?

A) She showed up at his lunch with Hansu without an invitation.

B) She disagrees with him in class all of the time and never listens to his opinions.

C) She sees him as being exotic for being Korean.

D) She is dismissive of his commitment to his studies.

4. Why does the family decide not to tell Mozasu about Noa? 

A) They don’t want Mozasu to find out the truth about Hansu.

B) They know that Mozasu looks up to Noa and wishes to go to college too one day.

C) They know that Mozasu will also stop speaking to Sunja.

D) They don’t want Mozasu to worry.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why might Yumi be particularly impressed by Pastor John?

2. What revelation does Akiko deliver to Noa when they break up?

3. How does Noa react when he confronts Sunja?

4. Why does Sunja go to ask Hansu for help? 

Book 3, Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Where does Noa live?

2. What news does Hansu deliver to Sunja?

4. Who invites Hansu to dinner?

5. Who joins Hansu, Solomon, and Sunja at dinner? 

Multiple Choice

1. How does Hansu know so much about Sunja’s life?

A) She secretly writes to him and confides in him.

B) Noa keeps him informed of all of the people in his mother’s life.

C) He keeps an eye on everyone in Sunja’s family’s lives.

D) He hired Mozasu so that he could hear more about Sunja’s life.

2. How has Sunja’s relationship to Hansu changed since she first met him?

A) It hasn’t changed, and she still loves him.

B) She would be okay now accepting a role as his mistress, even though she would not have before.

C) She feels like she has achieved more than he ever did.

D) She still feels plain around him, but she is unafraid to stand up to him after his role in Noa’s life is ultimately what made him stop talking to her.

3. What “curse” might Noa be speaking of when he tells his son that it’s not easy to reverse a curse?

A) his own Korean heritage

B) Isak’s poor health

C) his grandfather’s genes

D) his brother’s luck with women

4. Why has Sunja been trying to reach Hansu?

A) She wants to curse him for the pain he has caused her.

B) She knows that he is the only one who can find Noa.

C) She wants him to pay for Yumi’s medical care.

D) She hopes that he will pay for Solomon’s education when the time comes.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Noa able to get the job at the pachinko parlor when they won’t hire anyone who is Korean or Chinese?

2. Why does Noa pay Hansu back for his tuition even though he resents him?

3. Why does Noa go by “Nobua Ban”?  

4. Why is it significant that Solomon was born “strong and well” (339)?

Book 3, Chapters 6-11

Reading Check

1. Who does Ayame see at the park?

2. Who finds Noa?

3. What is Etsuko’s daughter’s name?

4. Where is Solomon’s birthday party held?

Multiple Choice

1. How does Mozasu relate to the story that Haruki tells him about the kid who was bullied?

A) He was made fun of in school for smelling like his mother’s kimchi.

B) He was made fun of because his father had passed away and Sunja never remarried.

C) He was made fun of for being Korean.

D) He was made fun of for being friends with Haruki.  

2. Why does Solomon need to get an alien registration card if he was born in Japan?

A) Japanese law dictates that anyone who is Korean and born after 1952 must register.

B) Mozasu wants him to register as a Japanese citizen so that he will not be teased.

C) Solomon is half-Japanese but has never identified as Japanese.

D) Mozasu is nervous that they could all be deported if Solomon doesn’t register.

3. What is the most accurate reason for Etsuko being so touched when Solomon tells her that she is like a mother to him?

A) She has wanted to hear him say that.

B) She is not close with her own children and Solomon’s statement makes her feel like a good mother.

C) She has been afraid that she has let Mozasu down since she wasn’t sure how Solomon felt about her.

D) She hopes to one day adopt Solomon.

4. Why does Noa kill himself after Sunja leaves?

A) He blames her for allowing Hansu to be involved in his life.

B) He doesn’t love her anymore.

C) He is worried people will find out he is Korean.

D) He doesn’t know what to do since his wife has left him.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Ayame blame herself for not having a child with Haruki?

2. Describe Etsuko’s relationship with her daughters.

3. What is one example of the theme of being multiethnic in a monoethnic society that appears in this set of chapters?

4. Where did Noa go in South Korea and why?

Book 3, Chapters 12-16

Reading Check

1. What does Yangjin say is Sunja’s mistake?

2. What is Travis Brothers?

3. What does Kazu invite Solomon to do?

4. What is the age difference between Hana and Solomon?

Multiple Choice

1. Why would Yangjin be excited that the show Other Lands included a Japanese woman with Korean blood?

A) She thinks she may have known the woman when she was younger.

B) She thinks that the woman is one of her sisters.

C) She enjoys the woman’s performance, even though she is Japanese.

D) She has seen how Koreans are treated in Japan, and so seeing one represented on TV is a big deal.

2. How is Sunja able to reconcile what happened with Hansu when they were younger?

A) She tries to be grateful that she received her children and grandchildren because of what happened between them.

B) She hates him and always will, but she is grateful that others in her life do not judge her.

C) She knows a part of her will always love him and plans to marry him when his wife dies.

D) She knows that her father would want her to let go of the past.

3. Why is Phoebe so upset by Japanese stereotypes of Koreans?

A) She is Japanese and thinks that they should be better.

B) She is protective of Solomon.

C) She is Korean but was born in America, so she never encountered them before.

D) She thinks that Solomon was making them up so that she would feel sorry for him.

4. Where does Solomon go to college?

A) Tokyo

B) Yokohama

C) Osaka

D) New York

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Sunja return to Osaka?

2. What does Sunja say when Hansu asks her to marry him now that his wife is dead?

3. Why is Etsuko shocked by Hana’s appearance?

4. What effect has Etsuko’s divorce had on Hana?

Book 3, Chapters 17-21

Reading Check

1. Who does Mozasu ask to help Solomon solve his work problem?

2. What disease does Hana have?

3. What reason does Kazu give for firing Solomon?

4. What does Sunja leave buried next to Isak’s grave at the end of the novel?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Kazu really enlist Solomon’s help to get the older woman to sell her land?

A) He knows that Solomon is the most capable member of his team.

B) He plans to promote Solomon if all goes well.

C) He doesn’t want anything to happen to the woman.

D) He knows that Solomon is Korean, just like the woman.

2. Why are Kyunghee and Sunja shocked by Phoebe’s upbringing?

A) Phoebe’s mother never cooked.

B) Phoebe is an American.

C) Phoebe was allowed to wait until she was older to marry.

D) Phoebe has never had a job.

3. Why does Hana tell Solomon to go into the pachinko business?

A) She knows that Koreans will never be accepted, so he may as well make money.

B) She knows that Mozasu will protect him from ill treatment by others.

C) She thinks that he will be good at it.

D) She thinks that it is what she would do.

4. Why doesn’t Mozasu retire?

A) He loves his job.

B) He worries that Solomon won’t have enough money.

C) He wants to ensure that his workers have a livelihood.

D) He plans to once Solomon marries Phoebe.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Hana grateful that Solomon’s family comes to visit her in the hospital?

2. What ultimatum does Phoebe give Solomon?

3. Why does Mozasu at first resist Solomon’s desire to join him in the pachinko business?

4. What does Sunja learn from the groundskeeper at the cemetery?