In The Ted Talk “Don't feel sorry for refugees” by Luma Mufleh it talks about Americans needing to believe in immigrants and immigration and not put them down. Giving them food and clothes helps them but it makes immigrants feel like less of a human. Migrants are plenty capable of surviving; they just need to be believed in. Luma helped organize a soccer team for refugees in her area. In her coaching she has said to them,“Go. And don't come back until you’ve played. Don't ever think people are beneath you or that you have nothing to learn from others”(Mufleh)
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Oscar a nerdy overweight kid, had very low self esteem and the desire and passion for love. Growing up he struggled to get the confidence to talk to girls, most often being rejected if he did. This only made his desire grow stronger. Later on in the story Oscar goes to the Dominican Republic on a trip with his family, he meets this girl that he instantly falls in love with. He had really liked this girl and his passion for her was tremendous, he would do anything for her. Oscar had to go back home to New Jersey and he could not stop thinking about her. Oscar's friend Yunior for money to get an apartment when he gets back to New Jersey. Oscar had gotten money and did not use it for an apartment; he immediately booked a flight back to the Dominican Republic. Oscar had never had Confidence but this girl gave him So much confidence he felt as though he had powers. Oscar gets to Ybons house, the girl that he is in love with, and she opens the door and tells him he needs to leave immediately. She is now married to a gang leader, Oscars proceed to try and pursue her, learning where she goes to try and talk to her. She would run into him at the bar that she goes to and give him notes telling him he needs to leave before he gets hurt, but of course Oscar didn't listen. Oscar had taken a taxi back to see his grandmother one day when the taxi had been hijacked by the gang's henchmen. They had taken the car to the cane field and beaten Oscar until he had eventually died. His family had to fly out to the Dominican Republic and eventually had a funeral where on close family had gone.“It was like being at the bottom of an ocean, she said. There was no light and a whole ocean crushing down on you. But most people had gotten so used to it they thought it normal, they forgot even that there was a world above.”(Diaz 157)
Immigrants need to be believed in and not helped. If Oscars had been believed in and not felt as though he wasn't good enough because he was an immigrant from young and not alone his whole childhood he would have had confidence inorder to pursue a relationship.
When is a time that your character was not believed? How did that impact their confidence?
For participants:
-Never use a peer’s real name, only use their username
-Respond to the question based on your book, not your personal opinion
-If the question doesn’t directly apply to something that appears in your book, be clear about what you’re seeing instead
-Make sure to include a summary of your book so far
-Include a quote with the proper citation to give context to your answer
-Reply to one other participant in this group
-Acknowledge your lead’s reply to your response with a comment that clarifies information, offer a question to them about their book, or simply give a thumbs up
To exceed: Reply to three other people in this group, or two in this group and one in a group you weren’t assigned
