Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Every Falling Star is written as a first-person narrative memoir that borrows many literary devices from fiction.

• Why might Sungju and McClelland have decided to use this narrative style? (topic sentence)
• What are 3-4 literary devices used in Every Falling Star that are commonly found in fiction?
• In your conclusion, consider the elements of Sungju’s story that could be misconstrued as fiction and discuss how the literary devices add gravity to his story. Consider how Sungju’s story compares to the Folk Stories disseminated by the North Korean government.

2. Each character in the book places their faith somewhere.

• Pick two characters that have markedly different beliefs. Where does each character put their faith? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast where each character puts their faith and what that says about their personalities.
• In your conclusion, discuss how where they place their faith either hinders or helps their chances of survival, and consider how Sungju’s life changes when he puts his faith in Brotherhood and the Power of Chosen Family.

3. Sungju says, “I think the worst thing anyone can do is make [people] stop believing in something higher, something good, something pure, a reason for everything—hope, maybe. God, maybe.” (216)

• Why, according to Sungju, is taking away belief in something higher than oneself crueler than any other action? (topic sentence)
• Analyze 2-3 moments in the book when Sungju experiences a crisis of faith. What does hope do for him in these moments?
• In your conclusion, discuss how for Sungju and the kotjebi—and, perhaps, the North Korean citizenry at large—hope is crucial to survival, and particularly how Hope and Disillusionment in Institutions plays out for individuals in North Korean society.

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. At various points throughout the text, an older narrator comments on the situation being described. How does this older narrator differ from the child narrator? How does this shift in narration change how you interpret the text? Structuring your response in chronological order, trace the evolution of how the older narrator speaks to Sungju’s Hope and Disillusionment in Institutions at the beginning, middle, and end of the text.

2. Throughout the text, there is considerable emphasis placed on the notion of “home” and whether home is a place, a person, or an idea. Ultimately, what is Sungju’s idea of home? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? In your response, be sure to consider the possibility that Sungju considers his Brotherhood/Chosen Family to be a kind of “home,” even though they travel from city to city in North Korea, and their “family” of kotjebi is far from perfect. Cite 2-3 moments in the text when Sungju seems to believe that the brotherhood he has with his gang is the truest form of family.

3. Young-bum tells Sungju early on that “the past doesn’t feed us” (Chapter 13), which is somewhat ironic, since this book is a memoir. Do you agree with Young-bum’s statement about the nature of the past? If so, why? If you disagree, what value do you see in a memoir like this one, illustrating the recent past in an oppressive and dangerous North Korea, written for those who have never lived there? Discuss how the past can take on new life in Folk Stories and Propaganda, especially when those stories are used to conceal a Traumatic Reality. Imagine how Young-bum might respond to—or even reject—the North Korean folk tales most frequently cited by Sungju.