Crying in H Mart

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Michelle Zauner makes several references to karaoke in her memoir.

• What meaning does karaoke come to have for her? (topic sentence)
• The memoir ends with Zauner singing with Nami Emo. How does this scene compare to other mentions of karaoke? Provide other examples of karaoke in the novel and explores how the meaning that Zauner gave these experiences transformed over the text.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explore how karaoke helps us to understand the ways in which Zauner is processing her grief.

2. The memoir takes its title from Zauner’s experience of being in H Mart after her mother’s death.

• What do H Mart and similar grocery stores symbolize? (topic sentence)
• Consider Zauner’s experience shopping in these stores before and after her mother’s death. How do they help her feel connected to her mother?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how this connects back to the theme of Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity.

3. Zauner recounts the experience of caring for and then grieving the loss of her mother.

• Where is Zauner at the end of the memoir in terms of her grief? (topic sentence)
• How did Zauner describe her relationship with and perspective on her mother before she learned the diagnosis? How does Zauner’s grief impact her perspective on her mother? Use examples from the text to support the change that grief brought.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, connect grief to the theme of The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Michelle Zauner frequently discusses the trouble she gave her mother in her youth and feels that she is so dissimilar from her mother both in their personalities and in their wants from life. As she cares for and then grieves her mother, she discusses the ways in which she contends with that distance and with trying to close it. Does she ultimately find connection with her mother? Address this question in your essay and use examples from the text to support your perspective. Ultimately, connect this back to at least one of three main themes of this memoir: Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity, The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter, and The Undignified Reality of Death by Cancer.

2. Zauner sees herself in the middle of her American upbringing and her Korean heritage, both in terms of how she looks and in the ways she moves through society. In your essay, discuss how Zauner connects this to her mother and their past. How did Zauner’s experiences with grief and loss affect her perspective of her own heritage and identity? Make an argument that addresses Zauner’s growth and change over the course of her mother’s treatment, care, and death, citing examples from the text.

3. Zauner finds herself caring for her mother in ways that she never expected. In your essay, consider the question of how Zauner portrays death and to what end. How does her relationship with her mother change as a result of caring for her in her final months of life? Use examples from the text to support your argument. Ultimately, connect your answer back to the theme of The Undignified Reality of Death by Cancer.