A Man Called Ove

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3, 4-6, 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does Ove inspect every day?

2. What did the houses in Ove's community replace?

3. Where did Ove's father work?

4. What does Ove most miss doing with his wife?

5. What car brand does Ove prefer?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the Apple Store salesclerk react to Ove?

2. Why is Parvaneh's gift of chicken and rice a dilemma for Ove?

3. Why does Ove defend the cat against a dog attack?

4. What was the connection between Ove's refusal to name a thief and his destiny?

Paired Resource

“Understanding Culture and Diversity in Building Communities”

• This is an excerpt from The Community Tool Box, a free online resource that aims to help users build healthier communities, which is developed and managed by the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.
• In their first encounter, what are some of the ways Ove and Parvaneh help or hurt prospects for understanding each other's cultures?  

Chapters 10-12, 13-15

Reading Check

1. What does Ove consider fairer than people?

2. What is the immediate catalyst for Ove's decision to end his life?

3. Which character is described as "dancing on the inside"?

4. What did Sonia tell Ove to do after three months of riding the train together every day?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the biggest influence on Ove's behavior toward the cat?

2. What incident amuses both Ove and Parvaneh at Patrick's expense?

3. How do Parvaneh's children behave toward Ove?

Paired Resource

“Scientist David Goodall Chooses Euthanasia At 104 Years Old”

• This video is a 30-minute documentary from Journeyman Pictures about a respected scientist's decision at age 104 to end his life. (Content Warning: euthanasia)
• What is the connection between meaning, value, and Purpose in Life for Ove?

“Years After Woolsey and Thomas Fires, Survivors Explain Why They Still Haven’t Rebuilt Their Homes”

• This 9-minute podcast with accompanying article and photos discusses the challenges faced by individuals trying to rebuild their homes following wildfire destruction.
• What was the likely toll on Ove of seeing the only home he had ever known burn down and then finding that his insurance policy was a fraud?

Chapters 16-18, 19-21, 22-24

Reading Check

1. What did Ove build for Sonya?

2. When Sonya was a child, what looked to her like a pony?

3. Who is Ove talking to when he explains the cat came "already broken"?

4. Who was trapped inside a garage?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How did Ove win over Sonya's father?

2. What does "the men in the white shirts" refer to?

3. Why did Sonya consider Ove a superhero?

4. Why does Nasanin draw Ove in color?

Paired Resource

“Why Bureaucrats Don't Seem to Care”

• This article includes the perspective of frontline workers in examining the failures of bureaucracy.
• Considering Ove's attachment to rules (e.g., vehicles are not permitted in the residential area), why is he so antagonistic toward bureaucrats? How does this story element relate to the theme of Rules Versus What's Right?

Chapters 25-27, 28-30

Reading Check

1. What did Sonja get the boy with the broken bicycle to read?

2. What prompts Ove to ask about Mirsad's sexual orientation?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Ove's offer to help Anita with the radiators a turning point for him?

2. What causes Parvaneh to cry during the driving lesson?

3. What did Ove's and Rune's car purchases over the years signify?

4. What does Ove consider the best thing about a house?

Paired Resource

“Following Rules and Doing the Right Thing Aren’t Necessarily the Same”

• Opinion column by two University of Central Florida professors about the importance of understanding the ethical justification for rules and regulations
• Does Ove consider the ethics of the rules he tries so hard to enforce? Try to relate your answer to the theme of Rules Versus What's Right.

Chapters 31-33, 34-36, 37-Epilogue 

Reading Check

1. What does the futility of fighting bureaucracy cause Ove to do?

2. What does Adrian do in the kitchen that reminds Ove of Sonja?

3. Who planted drugs in the neighborhood "party" house?

4. What sort of computer game does Ove play?

5. What does Ove give Parvaneh's daughter for her birthday?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Adrian and Mirsad show up at Ove's house in the middle of the night?

2. What finally persuades the councilman to allow Rune to stay in his home?

3. What is the subject of Lena's front-page newspaper article?

4. After Ove returns from the hospital, what do Parvaneh and her daughters help him to do?

5. What prompts Parvaneh to check on Ove?

Recommended Next Reads 

Small Moving Parts by D.B. Jackson

• This novel is about two strangers whose serendipitous meeting, just as both have decided to end their lives, begins an enduring friendship that creates ripple effects felt far into the future.
• Book trailer from Turner Publishing

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

• This humorous novel reveals the adventures of a man who flees his nursing home to avoid his 100th birthday party and stumbles into a series of improbable adventures.
• Flashbacks to earlier incidents in his long life relate chance meetings with important historical figures and his own role, often unintentional, in major world events.
• The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared on SuperSummary