At the end of the second paragraph, Kim says, "My own tears had then come as well, but for a different reason." What is this different reason?

Why does Kim choose to plant lima beans when thinking of her father that morning, rather than honor him in some other way?

What is the difference between how Kim feels inside at the alter versus outside planting beans?

What theme does this excerpt convey? I dug six holes. All his life in Vietnam, my father had been a farmer. Here our apartment house had no yard. But in that vacant lot he would see me. He would watch my beans break ground and spread, and would notice with pleasure their pods growing plump. He would see my patience and my hard work. I would show him that I could raise plants, as he had. I would show him that I was his daughter.

What does this scene foreshadow about what might happen in the story after this scene?

This passage is the first chapter about a novel that focuses on how many different people add to a community garden that starts with Kim's lima beans. If this is the main plot of the story, what would be considered a subplot?

What theme(s) does this excerpt convey? I thought about how my mother and sisters remembered my father, how they knew his face from every angle and held in their fingers the feel of his hands. I had no such memories to cry over. I’d been born eight months after he’d died. Worse, he had no memories of me. When his spirit hovered over our altar, did it even know who I was?

What is Kim's primary reason for planting the lima beans?

The setting of this story is spring time in Chicago. However, it is still cold outside. How might this setting impact a story about a group of neighbors planting a community garden?

What lesson can we learn from Kim?