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.