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With a Little Help from My Friends - Ella Nahas

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With a Little Help from My Friends - Ella Nahas

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Analyze The Text:

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 18–19 of “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
What change in the attitude of Americans toward Iran did Dumas see in a few short years? How did Dumas feel about the change, and were her feelings justified?

In a few short years, the Dumas realized that their relatives, who came to America before, did not encounter the same environment. They had opinions instead of questions towards the Iranians. They learned that the Americans were unwelcoming, mean and incurious about the Iranians. However, the Dumas experienced a newer America. The people were welcoming and kind enough to helped them. The Americans were curious, they kept asking questions.

2. Present and Discuss
Now, work with your group to share the passages from the text that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you notice in the text, the questions you asked, and the conclusions you reached.

"They saw Americans who had bumper stickers on their cars that read 'Iranians: Go Home' or 'We Play Cowboys and Iranians.' The Americans they met rarely invited them to their houses." (Dumas 19).
In this passage, we notice how the Americans used to treat their past relatives and what they used to think of Iranians. However, Dumas experienced a great change with the Americans. They completely changed. They became more welcoming and curious: They had questions rather than opinions.

3. Essential Question: What does it mean to be “American”? What has this selection taught you about American identity? Discuss with your group.

To be American means change. I noticed a lot of change and maturity coming from Americans in this story. Before, Americans used to be cruel and unwelcoming to new people. However, now the environment has matured. They have became more welcoming to new people and ideas (as the kids in Dumas school ask to learn new languages and about her Iranian lifestyle). In comparison with the American experience of Dumas relatives, the Americans were close-minded.

Analyze Craft and Structure:

Memoirs share these elements:
• written in first person, using the pronouns I, me, we, and us
• written in story form; may read like a work of fiction
• expresses the writer’s attitude and insights
Memoirs often show how the writer’s personal life intersects the social and historical context, or the circumstances of the time and place in which the story occurs. Aspects of the context include politics, language, values, beliefs, foods, customs, and traditions. In this memoir, Dumas expresses insights about the social and historical context of her childhood.
Work independently. Use the chart to identify details from the memoir that show each aspect of the social and historical context. Add a fifth category of your own. Then, discuss with your group how Dumas uses each detail to support an insight.

Politics:

Textual Details:
"We remember the kindness more than ever, knowing that our relatives who immigrated to this country after the Iranian Revolution did not encounter the same America." (Dumas 92)

Duma's Insight:
The relatives of the Dumas were not treated the same way as they were treated. Their relatives were bullied and rarely invited to any American household. The Americans had a mind set that thought that they knew everything about Iranian people and had no questions, just opinions. Which the current Dumas cannot relate to.

Traditions:

Textual Details:
"From that day, when I told people I was from Iran, I added 'where Persian cats come from'.” (Dumas 91)

Dumas's Insight:
The Dumas sounded proud that they found out something new about where they came from and they wanted to share it with everyone that they came from the same place as Persian cats.

Foods:

Textual Details:
"'Where the famous caviar comes from.”(Dumas 90)

Dumas's Insight:
The Dumas thought that most people knew what caviar is and where it came from. When they explained what it was, the people were disgusted.

Value or Beliefs:

Textual Details:
"We do, however, have two things in common with Saudi Arabia, he continued: 'Islam and petroleum.'" (Dumas 90)

Dumas's Insight:
The Dumas were confused on why the American had a mistaken image of Iran. After that, they got a tip from a neighbor that most people thought Iran was like a film they had watched. The Dumas has never heard of that movie but continued to explain more about the Iranians culture and how they consider themselves more Europeans and not Arabs, but they still have things in common with the Arabs such as Religion and petroleum.

Other: Location

Textual Details:
"We were also asked about electricity, tents, and the Sahara." (Dumas 90)

Dumas's Insight:
Dumas disappointed when they admitted that they had electricity and that they didn't own a tent.

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The Writing on the Wall - Ghanem Ghorayeb

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The Writing on the Wall - Ghanem Ghorayeb

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Analyze the Text:

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread the poem in paragraph 3 of the selection. How do you interpret this poem? How does the speaker compare with the heroes of the past?
The way I interpret this is that a Chinese immigrant intending to go to America is talking about their hardships and what they went through in the detention camps in Angel Island. I think the speaker compares with the heroes of the past because they are similar, because both the speaker and the heroes of the past have experienced obstacles in their life that could help other people learn and overcome those same obstacles easily.

2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share the passages from the text that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you notice in the text, the questions you asked, and the conclusions you reached.
The paragraph I chose was paragraph 4. "Imagine you saw not just one poem written on or etched into the walls, but hundreds. Imagine nearly every inch of available wall space was taken up by a poem, and there was only a little space left. Imagine you were one of the most educated men in your village, the man on whom several families had penned their hopes. Imagine you had little but a knife or a pen and your calligraphy was beautiful. Would you take the opportunity to add a new poem to that wall?"(Dungy 4). I chose this paragraph because it explains how many people this law impacted, and how many lives it ruined. It also explains how much the immigrants had on their minds and how they could only express themselves by writing poems on walls that future people can see and learn from. It explains the state of the people inside the detention camps. The author describes how miserable the immigrants were in the camps, and how little the immigrants have. Finally, the author ends the paragraph with a question that leaves the reader to think about for a long time.

3. Essential Question: What does it mean to be “American”? What have you learned about American identity from reading this text? Discuss with your group.
To be American is to be committed and dedicated to make America better. It means to be a citizen and to love the country, and it means to follow the law and rules of the country. In this text, I have learned that being American has nothing to do with race, but how much you love the country and how much you want to improve it.

Analyze Craft and Structure:

Informative Text Many blog posts, including “The Writing on the Wall,” are essentially essays that are posted online. Like all effective essays, this blog post expresses a central idea, the main idea the author wants readers to understand. The author develops and refines the central idea by explaining it and making connections to other, related ideas. Pieces of information that illustrate, expand on, or prove an author’s ideas are called supporting details. These are some types of supporting details:
• Facts: information that can be proved true
• Statistics: numbers used to compare groups of people or things
• Examples: specific cases of a general concept
• Descriptions: details that tell what something looks like, feels like, and so on
• Reasons: logical claims that justify a belief
• Expert opinions: comments of people with special knowledge
An essay may not include every type of supporting detail, but most writers try to include a variety. Doing so makes a text more interesting and convincing.
on the top of the page.

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Analyze the Text:

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraphs 1–3 and 76–77 of “Rules of the Game.” What does the image of the “strongest wind” represent to you?

Why does Tan return to the “strongest wind” image at the end of the story? Explain. What "strongest wind" represents to me is something big that affects your life without even knowing. Ex: your parents. Since Waverly is the one under a lot of control from her mother. Those people who fight for what they desire are strong opponents.

2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share other key passages from the story. Discuss parts of the text that you found to be most meaningful, as well as questions you asked and the conclusions you reached as a result of reading those passages.

“Rules of the game” have many meaningful passages. An example of a meaningful passage in this Novel is“Chinese people do many things,” she said simply. “Chinese people do business, do medicine, do the painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.” (Amy T. 12). This passage represents Waverly’s mother’s pride in being Chinese and how she believes Chinese people are smarter than Americans. She also argues that Americans are lazy unlike Chinese people and have too many regulations.

3. Essential Question: What does it mean to be “American”? What has this selection taught you about American identity? Discuss this idea with your group.

In “Rules of the Game” the term “American” means multiple things according to the story. For instance, Waverly’s perspective on the term “American” is to have over your life and to have the liberty and independence to choose what you want as a citizen. As well as excepting other people’s religious beliefs and cultural differences. Just like Waverly does in the story to take control over her life and have the freedom to do as she pleases. The perspective of being American in Waverly’s mother’s perspective is being lazy and non-hard working like Chinese people example when she says “Chinese people do business, do medicine, do the painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.”

Analyze Craft and Structure:

Complex Characters In the best stories, the main characters are interesting and complex, or well-rounded. You can identify complex characters in the following ways:
• They show multiple or even contradictory traits or qualities.
• They struggle with conflicting motivations, or reasons for acting as they do.
• They change or learn something important by the end of the story.
Characters Advance Plot As characters interact with one another and struggle to overcome problems, their choices move the story along. A character’s action—or decision not to take action—can lead to new plot developments and may intensify the conflict, heightening tension or suspense in the story.
Characters Develop Theme A character’s struggles with a conflict can teach a general lesson. In this way, characters help develop a story’s theme—the central insight that it conveys. As you read a short story, pay close attention to the ways that characters change and to the lessons that they learn. These details will point you toward the story’s theme.
Find your own examples in “Rules of the Game” where the author builds characters. Identify each character’s traits, motivations, and actions, and interpret how these details help to establish the theme. most meaningful, as well as questions you asked and the conclusions you reached as a result of reading those passages.

1.

2.(a) Cite at least two ways in which Waverly’s actions or reactions change the situation and move the plot forward. (b) Do the same for Mrs. Jong.
1. Away Waverly's action changed the situation moved the plot is when Waverly is the one who becomes good at chess.
2. A cause the lead Waverly's brothers to stop playing chess is when she gets really good at chess then their brothers stop playing chess because she always beats them.
1. Away Mrs. Jong action changed the situation moved the plot is when Mrs. Jong says "was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength".
2. Another way Mrs. Jong moved the plot is when she said "Without a trace of knowing how wicked Waverly was being

3.Do Waverly and Mrs. Jong change or grow as a result of their experiences? If so, in what ways? If not, why?
Waverly grows in rules of the game when her brothers were free to do as they please whereas Waverly had to do chores. As she progresses in the Novel she becomes a national chess champion. Mrs. Jong doesn't grow because she sticks to her beliefs.

4.(a) What central ideas do Waverly and her mother’s conflict emphasize? (b) What insights about life or the human condition does the story express?

The central idea between Waverly and her mother's conflict emphasizes how her mother is always constantly pushing her. Another central idea is "invisible strength" which is a concept Mrs. Jong brings up throughout the story. Insights about life or the human condition the story expresses is how the mother constantly wants the daughter to improve. Also how the Daughter wants more freedom to do as she pleases.

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Poetry Collection: Ella Nahas - Ghanem Ghorayeb

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Poetry Collection: Ella Nahas - Ghanem Ghorayeb

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Analyze the Text:

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread lines 45–50 of “Immigrant Picnic.” What recognition is the poet making when he compares words to nuts? Explain.
The recognition that the poet is making when he compares words to nuts is that the display of the nut is changed into words that presents another meaning of what the poet is actually intending. Like with the nut and the words which intends to immigrants in America.

2. Present and Discuss Share with your group the passages from the texts that you found important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the text, the questions you asked, and the conclusions you reached.
"That’s not the point I begin telling them, and I’m comparing words to fish now, like the ones in the sea at Port Said,2 or like birds among the date palms by the Nile,3 unrepentantly elusive, wild." (Djanikian 30)
Why is Sonia saying this to her father?
Sonia says this passage to he father to show him the different ways you can compare two completely different phrases and show what they have in common.

3. Essential Question: What does it mean to be “American”?What have these poems taught you about American identity? Discuss this question with your group.
These poems have taught that everyone are immigrants. Most Americans shame others of being immigrants, even though they are immigrants too.

Analyze Craft and Structure:

Poetic Structures The basic structures of poetry are lines and stanzas. A line is a group of words arranged in a row. A line of poetry may break, or end, in different ways.
• An end-stopped line is one in which both the grammatical structure and sense are complete at the end of the line. It may include punctuation, such as a comma or period. Example: How do I love thee?/ Let me count the ways.
• A run-on, or enjambed, line is one in which both the grammatical structure and sense continue past the end of the line. Example: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height /My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. A stanza is a group of lines, usually separated from other stanzas by space. Like a paragraph in prose, a stanza often expresses a single idea. The ways in which a poet organizes a poem into lines and stanzas affects how a poem looks and sounds and even what it means.