When My Name Was Keoko

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. Throughout the novel, different characters participate in various forms of resistance against the Japanese occupiers.

• In which ways does Resistance and Liberation Occur Differently for Every Individual? (topic sentence)
• Select one character from the novel and discuss their personal form of resistance against the Japanese occupiers.
• How is the concept of resistance juxtaposed against the fear of being deemed chin-il-pa?

2. Living in occupied Korea, many of the families are concerned with maintaining their cultural traditions in the face of increasing discrimination by the Japanese government.

• Why is community important for Koreans during the Japanese occupation? (topic sentence)
• Discuss one example from the novel where the characters are unified by a sense of community.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how the theme Sacrifice and Struggle Deepen the Appreciation for Community is revealed in the novel.