Crying in H Mart

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Family Meal”

In this activity, students will explore the traditions and meanings behind “classic” meals in order to make personal connections to and further analyze the theme of Food’s Relationship to Cultural and Family Identity.

For today’s activity, explore the history behind a specific food in individual groups.

Part A

• First, what dishes or meals do you want to explore? Once four or five are chosen, you will split into groups.
• Sign up to be in a group—one group for each of the chosen dishes or meals. (Groups that grow too large may be divided.)
• Together, start by discussing why you chose this group. Consider the following questions:

o Have you had this dish/meal before?

o What meaning or memories do you associate with it?

• Then, conduct some research using reputable resources. Use these questions to guide you:

o Where did this dish originate? What can you find out about how it became a tradition?

o Are there moments or events typically associated with this meal?

o Is it a comfort food? Why?

o What can you glean about a culture or group from this tradition?

o Look at a recipe: Where might you buy these ingredients? Why might they be available in some places but not others?

• Prepare a 5-to-10-minute presentation for the rest of the class on what you found.
• Each group should take turns presenting on their food and what they learned.

Part B

Now, as a group, discuss the following questions:

• How does this activity connect back to Crying in H Mart?
• What were the many roles that food played in Zauner’s life? How do these roles compare to the roles of meals and dishes that your classmates presented?
• What role do you think these foods play in family relationships and family and cultural traditions?
• Why is food important in our society?

Share your group’s conclusions with these discussion questions with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think about food and recipes as cultural texts. There is a lot to learn about personal and communal values as espoused by food. Some ingredients came about because of necessity; other meals arose based on availability. Encourage them to think critically about the research that they are doing and connect it back to the emotion, symbolism, and connection present in Zauner’s experiences in Crying in H Mart.