Crying in H Mart

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. How old was Zauner when her mother died?

2. To what location did Zauner’s father retire?

3. Where did Chongmi immigrate to with her husband when they arrived in the US?

4. To what location would Zauner and her mother travel for the summer?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why has Zauner been crying in H Mart?

2. Why does Zauner wonder if she is still Korean?

3. What is Zauner doing when her mother is diagnosed with cancer?

4. How did Peter impress Zauner’s parents when he first met them?

5. What does Chongmi’s remark that Peter is “New York style” mean?

Paired Resource

“The Lure of H Mart, Where the Shelves Can Seem as Wide as Asia”

• A New York Times article by Ligaya Mishan describes the appeal of H Mart, giving context to Zauner’s connection to the grocery store and food’s wider meaning. (Subscription may be needed for viewing.)
• This article connects to the motif of H Mart and themes of Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity and The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter.
• How does this article touch on the experience of Asian immigrants and their children?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What was Michelle’s nickname when she was young?

2. What was in the boxes Chongmi sent Michelle throughout college?

3. What is the name of the woman who helps to care for Chongmi?

4. What does unni mean?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Zauner’s father assume that she got her bad behavior from him?

2. Why did Zauner view Colette as an ideal daughter?

3. Why does Michelle quit her job and go home to Eugene, OR?

4. How does Michelle’s father respond to the early days of Chongmi’s treatment?

Paired Resource

“Migrant Earth”

• A poem by Deema K. Shehabi describes the experience of coming to the United States and the poet’s relationship with her mother.
• This poem connects to the theme of The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter in how it contrasts parents’ and children’s experience of immigration. Excerpts from this interview with Shebabi expand on this theme.
• How does the relationship between the speaker of the poem and her mother compare with that of Michelle and Chongmi?

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. Which animal did both Zauner and her mother choose in the game with Eunmi?

2. Where does Chongmi want to go when she decides not to continue with her chemo?

3. Where did Zauner meet Peter?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Zauner feel like her connection to Seoul was severed after Eunmi died?

2. Why does Zauner want to get married?

3. Why does Chongmi need to start walking around the house?

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. To whom does Zauner’s father give Chongmi’s wedding ring?

2. Who is present when Chongmi passes away?

3. What does Zauner find, among other items her mother has saved, that moves her emotionally?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Zauner believe she chose to go to Detering Orchards after her mother passed away?

2.  Why does Zauner choose to include “lovely” as an adjective on her mother’s tombstone?

3. Why does Zauner make doenjang jjigae for Nami Emo and Seong Young?

4. Why do Zauner and her father go to Vietnam?

Paired Resource

“Beef Doenjang-jjigae”

• This is the video that Zauner watched so that she could learn how to prepare beef doenjang jjigae for Nami Emo and Seong Young.
• This video connects to the theme of Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity.
• What did you learn from this video? How might Zauner have felt watching this video?

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. Where does Zauner work before she and Peter move to New York?

2. What was Zauner’s first word?

3. What is the band name that Zauner chooses when she puts out her first album?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Zauner respond to finding hundreds of photos in the kimchi fridge her father sent her?

2. Why does Zauner wish her mother was with her at the Korean spa?

3. Why is the concert in Seoul so significant for Zauner?

4. Why are Zauner’s relatives confused about how Zauner can rent an apartment in Seoul?

Paired Resource

“In Heaven”

• This video features a song from Japanese Breakfast’s first album and the album’s cover art, which is a photo of Zauner’s mother.
• The song connects to the theme of The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter through its references to Zauner’s grief and the loss of her mother.
• This song was released on Psychopomp, Michelle Zauner’s first album as Japanese Breakfast. How does this song develop your understanding of Zauner’s grief?

Recommended Next Reads 

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen

• This memoir features Nguyen’s migration from Vietnam to the United States and her relationship with her father, stepmother, grandmother, and siblings.
• This memoir shares themes of Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity and, more broadly, the immigrant experience.
• In each chapter in the memoir, Nguyen uses a memory of a specific food to tell the story of her arrival in the United States and her connection to Vietnam.
• Stealing Buddha’s Dinner on SuperSummary

The Leavers by Lisa Ko

• This novel features a young Chinese American boy who is seemingly left on his own by his immigrant mother and is consequently placed into foster care.
• This novel connects to the theme of The Difficult Relationship Between an Immigrant Mother and Her Daughter by navigating how the protagonist comes to perceive and eventually find his mother.
• This novel speaks directly to the immigration system.
• The Leavers on SuperSummary