WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKO – Study Guide
By Linda Sue Park
Answer all questions in your notebook, using complete sentences.
CHAPTERS 1-3
1. Why didn’t Omoni want to discuss important matters with Sun-Hee?
2. What did her attitude reveal about the roles of men and women in Korea in the
mid-twentieth century?
3. How did the Japanese take over Korea in 1910?
4. How did this affect the lives of Korean people?
5. How did Sun-hee and the other members of the Kim family react to the new law
that was declared by the Emperor of Japan?
6. How did Abuji choose the family’s new names?
7. How did he make the others feel better about obeying the new law?
8. Why was Uncle outraged when the broadcaster identified the winner of the
Olympic marathon as “Kitei Son of Japan”?
CHAPTERS 4-7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why had Uncle been brutally beaten and arrested after the Olympic marathon?
Why did the children have to burn Uncle’s sketch of the Korean flag?
Why was Sun-hee beaten at school?
Who ordered the punishment?
How did Abuji help Sun-hee resolve her worries about being called a chin-il-pa,
or traitor?
6. How did Omoni demonstrate her bravery?
CHAPTERS 8-10
1. What caused the first serious disagreement between Abuji and Uncle?
2. How did Uncle try to resolve the argument?
3. Why were Tae-yul and Sun-hee puzzled by Uncle’s seemingly new attitude toward
the Japanese occupiers?
4. Why was Sun-hee puzzled by Uncle’s behavior when she brought her friend to his
printing shop?
5. How did the bombing of Pearl Harbor affect Uncle’s business?
6. Why were Tomo and his friends anti-American?
CHAPTERS 11 – 12
1. How did Omoni once again demonstrate her quiet courage?
2. Why did Omoni want Mrs. Ahn to stand among the first five households in line
during neighborhood association accountings?
3. Why did Tae-yul resent the Japanese even more bitterly as the war continued?
4. Why didn’t Abuji try to stop the Japanese soldiers from commandeering
Tae-yul’s bicycle?
5. Why was Tae-yul’s response doubly improper?
CHAPTERS 13 -15
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why did Sun-hee think that Tomo had come to visit her?
How did Sun-hee try to help Uncle avoid imminent danger?
Why was Tae-yul disappointed and angry at his father?
How did Uncle’s secret work explain the mystery of his changed behavior toward
his Japanese customers and toward his niece when she visited the print shop?
5. Why did the Japanese collect all metal possessions from the Koreans?
6. Why did Sun-hee come to feel guilty about warning her Uncle of danger?
7. How did her parents try to comfort her?
CHAPTERS 16 – 17
1. Why did the Japanese officials declare Uncle a traitor?
2. What did the need for pine roots reveal about the Japanese war effort?
3. Why did Abuji grant Tae-yul permission to temporarily give up attending school
in order to work on the air-strip?
4. What did this reveal about Abuji’s attitude toward the education his children
were receiving?
5. Why couldn’t most of the townspeople read General MacArthur’s promise in the
leaflets that had been dropped by American planes?
CHAPTERS 18 – 20
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why did Tae-yul express sympathy for Jung-shin and her sister, Hee-won?
What did Tae-yul realize about his father’s behavior toward the Japanese?\
What made him more understanding of Abuji?
What did Sun-hee come to understand about the role of language in the life of a
person and a nation after the Japanese soldiers burned her journals?
5. Why was Tae-yul impressed by what he learned about Kamikaze pilots?
CHAPTERS 21-24
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why had Sun-hee and Jung-shin drifted apart?
How did Sun-hee restore their friendship?
What motivated Tae-yul to enlist in the Japanese army?
Why was it difficult for his family to accept his decision?
Why was battle more dangerous for a Korean in the Japanese army than for a
Japanese soldier?
6. Why did Tae-yul throw away the dried rose of Sharon flower that his sister had
given him as a parting gift?
CHAPTERS 25 -28
1. How did Omoni respond when the Japanese soldier delivered extra rations of
food to their home?
2. What did Tae-yul’s first letter suggest about the progress of the war and the
success or failure of the Japanese army?
3. How did Mrs. Ahn return the Kim family’s kindness to her?
4. What happened to her gift?
5. What was Tae-yul’s greatest fear about combat?
6. Why did he volunteer for the dangerous mission?
7. What did Sun-hee guess from Tae-yul’s second letter?
8. What did she do with information?
9. What terrible choice did Abuji have to make?
10.
What did he decide to do?
11.
What did Tae-yul realize on the eve of his mission?
12.
How did his change of mood reflect a deepening maturity?
CHAPTERS 29 – 32
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What did Tae-yul explain to his family in his final letter from training camp?
What action conclusively ended the war?
Why did the situation in Korea become even more dangerous after the war ended?
How did life improve for Koreans soon after peace was declared?
Why did Tomo have to leave Korea?
What was Sun-hee waiting for at the end of the war?
How had Mrs. Ahn secretly performed numerous acts of heroism?
Who had written the unsigned newspaper article about the need for students to
learn kanji?
9. Why had Tae-yul been imprisoned, along with the other pilots who had flown on
what was to have been their final mission?
10. Why did Tae-yul find it difficult to adjust to home life after the war?
11. Why did Tae-yul stop being critical of his father?