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1. Group A - mlynch25 (replacement A)

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In Phuc Tran’s book, Sigh, Gone, he discusses the difficulty of figuring out his identity as an immigrant in a mostly American neighborhood. From questioning his name to determining where he fits in the social structure of his high school, Tran has to navigate learning who he is with an additional barrier to the average teenager, having a whole other culture as a large part of his life. One way that Tran finds ways to carve out his place is to read, not just to improve his vocabulary, but so he can have the same cultural references as the typical white guy, using Clifton Fadiman’s The Lifetime Reading Plan as a guide. 

Early in the story, Tran talks about his family’s relocation to the United States after fleeing Vietnam. After being bounced between multiple camps and multiple countries, they finally started to settle in Pennsylvania, “We needed to blend, adopt our new country as it had adopted us. My parents were navigating all the straits and inlets of living in America, holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, driving in the snow, the difference between ketchup and catsup.” (Tran 20).

Based on this idea and the ideas from your book, how quickly are immigrants pressured to assimilate? What aspects of culture do they need to assimilate to early, and what aspects can be avoided or pushed until later?


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Protobeing
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In my book Refugee by Alan Gratz it focuses on 3 different characters, Josef, Mahmoud, and Isabel who are all dealing with different scenarios. In my book Josef is living in Germany during the holocaust, he is a 12 year old boy and hes laying down getting ready for bed, and his house gets raided by the Nazis, Josef gets thrown on the floor next to his 6 year old sister, and his dad got arrested for practicing the Jewish law. Josef tried to fight to get his dad back but they threatened to take him to a concentration camp and they couldn't do anything about his dad getting taken away. My next character is Mahmoud, Throughout what i’ve read he is dealing with the Syrian government attacking their own civilians, it's gotten to the point to where the civilians are fighting with other civilians and its a constant battle. Mahmoud’s house is destroyed and after that they try to escape. My last and final character is Isabel, from what i've read she is dealing with a corrupt government after the fall of the Soviet Union. Her family and their neighbors are trying to escape by boat and go to the USA. They traded items that they couldn't bring on the boat for gasoline and they prepared to go to the USA.

 

Based on my book, a quote that relates is when, “It wasn't just his building that got hit it was the whole neighborhood (Gratz 33) I feel its expected that immigrants set in fast but if they want to be legal they have a lot to do. There seems to be a loophole when it comes to being a legal immigrant because no matter what people aren't going to be happy that you are trying to better their life. What comes first is making sure your safe and then you can go through all of the legal changes to change your life.

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Hi cdalessandro25,

Your book sounds like it deals with many different character perspectives, making it quite a unique read. I enjoy how each of your characters seem to be dealing with different governments wanting to overtake their families and their livelihoods, so we, as the readers, also get those perspectives. While you discussed each character's current conflicts, fo you believe any of your three characters will successfully not only immigrate to the US, but will they also successfully assimilate? 

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Joined: 1 year ago

Protobeing
Posts: 22

Hi cstubbs10,

I think that Isabel is going to successfully assimilate in the US because her family and their neighbors have a really good plan to get to the US and I think she had the right personality to fit in anywhere, and wont give up.

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