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

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Until what year did the Japanese occupation of Korea last?

A) 1944

B) 1945

C) 1946

D) 1947

2. In the Prologue, Sungju plays with toy soldiers with his father and his mother while out on a picnic in Pyongyang, North Korea. Why is this moment significant?

A) Because it is when Sungju realizes that his love for his parents is unconditional, just like his loyalty to his homeland of North Korea

B) Because the three of them re-enact a decisive battle between Kim Sung-Il and the Japanese army and, much later, Sungju will use the same military strategy to flee North Korea

C) Because a North Korean general comes upon the group and tells them that he knows that Sungju will be a great man one day

D) Because Sungju observes the smallness of the toy soldiers, and he considers how tragic it is that his life is ruled by a militaristic government

3. What event makes Young-bum tell Sungju,“Today, your real-life education begins”? (Chapter 6)

A) Sungju and his family must drink filthy water in order to survive.

B) Sungju has to sell his mother’s favorite satchel in order to afford bread.

C) Sungju breaks his ankle at school, but he cannot see a doctor to have it fixed.

D) Sungju witnesses a public execution with the rest of his classmates.

4. Before Sungju’s mother leaves their home to seek food from her sister, she instructs Sungju to eat what if he gets hungry?

A) Dirt

B) Bugs

C) Salt

D) Rocks

5. In Chapter 12, why do Young-bum and Sungju clash over the regime’s responsibility for the famine?

A) Sungju thinks that it is not the regime’s responsibility to provide food to its citizens, but Young-bum thinks that they should at least have a shared grain system.

B) Sungju thinks that the regime should adopt capitalism, but Young-bum thinks that system is equally flawed.

C) Sungju thinks that the famine is not the regime’s fault because it is an act of God, but Young-bum disagrees because he does not believe in God.

D) Sungju defends the communist party with regard to the famine, but Young-bum points out that if the regime worked, no one would starve.

6. What happened to Young-bum’s sick grandmother upon arrival at Young-bum’s aunt’s home?

A) She lost her vision as a consequence of malnutrition.

B) She had a miraculous recovery.

C) She died from starvation.

D) She slipped into a coma after not having eaten for nearly a month.

7. What happens when Sungju and the boys arrive in Cheongjin?

A) They stake out one of the city’s markets, but they are beat up by another gang and Sungju is injured.

B) They find an abandoned home with cabinets miraculously full of pantry food.

C) They team up with another performance kotjebi group and negotiate how they will share turf.

D) They create fliers in an attempt to get in contact with their lost family members, even though it is risky.

8. When the boys arrive in Pohwang, Chulho becomes addicted to a drug. What is the street name for Chulho’s drug of choice, and what is the technical name?

A) Angel dust, which is the street name for phencyclidine

B) Happy pills, which is the street name for MDMA

C) Stardust, which is the street a name for cocaine

D) Ice, which is the street name for methamphetamine

9. By the winter solstice of 1999, Sungju, his brothers, and the rest of the kotjebi gang of young men in Pohwang share which of the following in common?

A) They all are deeply addicted to drugs.

B) They all want to overthrow the North Korean regime.

C) They all are fleeing military service.

D) They are all tattooed with a falling star.

10. Sungju uses what simile to describe walking into his old home in Gyeong-seong to see if his parents have returned?

A) It’s like walking into an abandoned mine.

B) It’s like walking into an old grave.

C) It’s like walking into a freezing cave.

D) It’s like walking into a nightmare.

11. What disturbing noise keeps Sungju and his gang awake at night when they are sent to the guhoso, or jail, in Chapter 23?

A) The sound of dogs being slaughtered for their meat.

B) The sound of sexual assault in the adjacent women’s jail.

C) The sound of screaming from the solitary confinement unit.

D) The sound of the people around him, sobbing and crying at their fate.

12. Sungjo’s interest in the nightflower seer in Kimchaek quickly turns to horror when she tells him that she can see what?

A) The unborn

B) Angry deities

C) Those who are about-to-die

D) The dead

13. Young-bum dies on the banks of what river?

A) Yalu River

B) Orang River

C) Tumen River

D) Changja River

14. In the wake of Young-bum’s death, how does Sungju begin to lose himself in grief?

A) He starts abusing substances. He begins to forget his age and his real name, instead going by his gang leader name, “Chang.”

B) He sleeps for days at a time. In the brief moments when he is awake, he cries out for Young-bum.

C) He begins to pick up the odd habit of spelling out Young-bum’s name at random intervals throughout the day, an obsessive tick that he believes will keep Young-bum’s memory alive.

D) He gives all his money to the seer nightflower. He begs her to help figure out how to bring Young-bum back from the dead.

15. After Sungju crosses a river into China, he takes refuge in what small structure?

A) A tent

B) A cave

C) A shed

D) An outhouse

Long-Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. In what ways does Sungju have a real crisis of faith? Discuss the moments in the novel, particularly in Chapters 11-15, when this is evidenced in the text.

2. What does Chileseong (The Big Dipper) represent in the novel?