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	Post Mortem #3 By jennifer.chick@rsu4.org 5 days ago \| Last Post: 1 day ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	In "The Only Road," a young boy named Jamie in Guatemala, sees his cousin Miguel murdered by a violent gang called the Alphas, who want him and his cousin Ángela to join them. They realize that their village isn't safe anymore. they decide to flee to the U.S. to find safety with Jaime's older brother, trying to escape the the Alphas. To create a better environment for newcomers, we need to change how we think about things in America. Instead of seeing immigrants as threats, we should see them as survivors who deserve our support. by providing resources like education, housing, and mental health services like therapy. It’s important to focus on the positive. By acceptaing and offering chances for success, we can help people like Jamie and Ángela from The Only Road rebuild their lives safely and make a positive impact.. "The Need for Family Reunification - To Make Families Whole Again," Elizabeth Zion talks about how hard it is for families when they're separated, especially for those who have migrated. She says bringing families back together is important for their happiness and well-being. She believes that family reunification should be more important in immigration policies. She wants more compassionate ways to keep families together, saying that having families united is very important for their emotional well-being. To make life better for immigrants, the U.S. should really focus on keeping families together in immigration policies. A lot of immigrants, especially those running away from violence, go through a tough time because they are separated from their loved ones. When families stay connected, everyone does better. The U.S. can create a more welcoming and supportive place for newcomers. 1 day ago By kmini... If you missed class when Discussion #3 was taking place or were not prepared to respond to your lead on time, you need to respond to the following question. Remember that leads are only responsible for responding to you within the timeframe that was initially assigned. Check in with your teacher when you've made your initial post, so they can respond. Please then mark this as complete on Google Classroom when you're finished all the steps that go into the Post Mortem instructions: A brief summary of your selected Ted Talk (that was not the one used in this post) One quote and citation from one of the Ted Talks (that was not used in this post) A summary of your book One quote and citation from your book A clear answer to the question with a connection to your information You can complete these in any order that creates a well-written response 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. As he ages, he realizes that he wants nothing to do with his Vietnamese heritage and works hard to present himself as anything but an Asain nerd stereotype. By the time he reaches middle school, his parents have been able to move into a house in a new part of town. Phuc takes this opportunity to reinvent himself into a full punk skater. No matter how hard he tries, however, people often slip back into only focusing on he’s clearly not white. Finally, as he’s getting close to graduation, he feels like he’s made a version of himself that he likes, but even when he should be having a moment of joy, it’s overshadowed. People still single him out, “With the leaden weight of gook slung around my neck, I was dragged back in my place at the familiar bottom. Back to ‘Nam. It didn’t matter that I was going to speak at graduation or going to Bard or that I was on the prom court or any of that crap…I was still, shocking even to myself, a gook no matter how hard I tried not to be.” (Tran 283) Similarly, in “Don’t feel sorry for refugees—believe in them” by Luma Mufleh, tells us, “We have seen advances in every aspect of our lives—except our humanity.” (Mufleh). As a refugee, the grandchild of a refugees, and someone who runs community programs for refugees, Mufleh is disgusted with the treatment the United States, and the world, have toward how they treat people who have been forced out of their homes. In one circumstance, a boy is jumped while playing outside of his apartment, waiting for her, and is badly injured, strictly because he was an immigrant. His family had been lucky enough to be in the .1% who get to resettle in the United States after escaping the Taliban in Pakistan. What she notes is, despite all of the targeting and ignorance she sees with refugees, she also sees the good, “Their journeys are haunting. But what I get to see every day is hope, resilience, determination, a love of life and appreciation for being able to rebuild their lives.” (Mufleh). To be continued to be treated this way, despite all of the accomplishment and innocence of a young adult trying to do their best, it really speaks to the culture that Americans have toward immigrants, especially refugees. Based on what you’ve seen in your own book, and the other Ted Talks, what is missing from the American mindset and culture to create a better environment for people coming into our country? What needs to change for these people to experience more success and acceptance? 5 days ago By jenni...
	3. Group D--mcolby26 By cstubbs10 1 week ago \| Last Post: 1 day ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	my character also didn't ask to leave everything she knew 1 day ago By bcolb... my character also has strubble with making friends 1 day ago By bcolb... In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian takes the perspective of Tom Bouchard, he is a high school senior who lives in Lewiston Maine with his family. His life is changed when his best friend Yusuf, who is a Somali-American boy, becomes involved in a controversy with a terrorist attack. As Tom experiences his own feelings of confusion and loyalty, he learns about the challenges that refugees face by being immigrants and the struggles of finding a place in a community that may not fully accept them. The novel explores the intersections of race, religion, and prejudice in the eyes of a boy in the modern world who is dealing with issues of terrorism and integration. In my book the main character Tom hasnt moved out of his country but many other people that he interacts with have. Yusuf is talking to Tom bout how he had to leave his country and he says, “‘I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to leave everything I knew’” (Padian chapter 23). This exemplifies how he feels about having to move away from his country and how he didnt want to leave but he was forced to. 5 days ago By kleve... view all posts
	3. Group H--thyde26 By cstubbs10 1 week ago \| Last Post: 2 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	That's really harsh. Does he ever work it out between the two racial groups? What does he say if so? 2 days ago By Cruck... My book, Immigrant Odyssey: A French-Canadian Habitant In New England by Félix Albert is about the author, an illiterate, French speaking subsistence farmer from Québec and his family's story of moving to Lowell, Massachusetts from L'Isle Verte, Québec in 1881 in hopes of better fortune. At the beginning, he and his family were essentially dirt poor in The States, initially having to live in another immigrant family's flat until they could afford their own. Eventually, Albert becomes a successful businessman, owning a few buildings. Unfortunately, just before the turn of the century, a depression hit which caused his creditors to demand payment immediately. He was forced to liquidate what he still had, and watched as his creditors pawned his other belongings. He then settled on a farm he was able to muster up the money for, this time just ouside of Massachusetts, in New Hampshire, back on the bottom rungs of the ladder. In the introduction, it is stated that "In 1881, the year Félix and his family emigrated to New England, an official of the Massachusetts Bureau of the Statistics of Labor described French Canadians as 'sordid and low,' labelling them distainfully 'the Chinese of the Eastern States.'" (Albert 2). Even though Félix did not really mention any direct mention of him and his family being held to high standards in his memoirs, throughout the book he was always assisting to others, but once he got well established, people started taking advantage of his good fortune. 2 days ago By Cruck... How does he face this? Are there any more kids like him? Or someone who supports him? 5 days ago By imado... view all posts
	3. Group F--gsheehy26 By emilysue.barker 2 weeks ago \| Last Post: 2 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	Did Jende get a new job after? 2 days ago By Gshee... The quote you chose is a very powerful one. It shows the internal struggle she is going through, making her question if she did the right thing 5 days ago By asmit... yes,he realizes the journey and struggles he had and does his best to help those around him. 5 days ago By grenn... view all posts
	3. Group G--bdubuc26 By cstubbs10 1 week ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	Do you think your character and story would have turned out different if Gogol didnt change his name to feel more welcomed? Did him changing his name affect how people see him that much? 5 days ago By asmit... Do you think changing his name helped him feel more accepted? Is there anything else he could do to fit in better? 5 days ago By imado... In The Namesake, Ashima and Ashoke from Calcutta got married and moved to America. They had a son named Gogol and as the novel goes on, it gives us the story of him growing up. He went to Yale for college and later created a life in New York. In the Novel, Gogol struggles with fitting in because he’s an Indian American in the U.S. Later he even changed his name to Nikhil because he felt like Gogol was unusual and meaningless to him when he lived in America.He wants to feel like he’s not any different from the people around him. A quote that tells us he didn’t want to feel different is “ ‘Lovely to meet you, Nikhil,’ she says, smiling brightly, and though she looks at him with interest, she does not pause in her work or offer to shake his hand.” (Lahiri 131). So I would say that’s what he struggles with the most. 6 days ago By msvar... view all posts
	3. Group F--wblier26 By cstubbs10 1 week ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	I like the quote you chose to show Kimberly facing discrimination. Sadly that is how a lot of people thought of immigrants 5 days ago By asmit... In my book Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo, the two main characters Jende and Neni are going through a lot of financial struggles because Jende was let go without notice. Jende wants to go back to Limbe, Cameroon while Neni wants to stay in America. This leads to many arguments between the two. While Neni is trying to find a way to stay in America, Jende requested for voluntary departure and was granted. Jende was able to convince Neni to allow them to move back to Limbe, because his body was in America but his heart was still in Limbe. Neni Jonga faces some discrimination against her because she is a mother of two while working and attending school under a school visa as she is an immigrant. So it is difficult for her financially. She got a letter to become a member of a group because of her grades and intelligence. Neni went to the Dean of her school to get a recommendation, but he said no after finding out what she wants to do after graduation. “...Unless you change your legal status it's going to be hard for you to get loans to get the degree, if you can find a way to get your associates from BMCC in the first place” (Mbue 296). 5 days ago By asmit... I still think that if she didn't have a language barrier she would still get treated the same just because of where she is from and her background. 6 days ago By p.liz... view all posts
	3. Group C--lmarks26 (Replacement D) By jennifer.chick@rsu4.org 1 week ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	both of our characters deal with similar situations. our characters are pressured by their parents to act and be what the parents want instead of letting their child be themselves and become their own person 5 days ago By alsmi... In my book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao beli (the mom of Oscar and Lola) left Santo Domingo to go live in New york because La inca (a distant relative that adopted her) wanted her to be safe. My book goes back to Oscar he was still an outcast and yunior (baiscally the main narrator of my story) offered to move in with him to impress Oscars sister. Yunior befriended Oscar. Oscar falls in love with a girl who becomes his gf but she cheated on him and he tried to kill himself but he lived and he started a writing project. My book moves on back to Lola, her grandma tells her that she has to move back with her mom and she quit her classes and everything and she even broke up with Max. She felt like utter crap and she wasn't herself. She fooled around with one of her classmates' dad who was after her which made the guy happy till she asked for a lot of money. She had gotten the money and stashed it. She soon found out that her ex Max had died which was heartbreaking for her since she hadn't seen him since the break up. My book moves on to talk about Oscars grandfather Abelard who was a wellr respected surgeon who ran a clinic with his wife who he had 2 daughters with. He was worried for his eldest daughter since the dictator Trujillo at the time was known for doing awful things to women. Abelard was then arrested for an alleged joke that was against Trujillo. Abelards wife at the time was pregnant with their third child Beli and after she gave birth she ended her own life and then her two oldest daughters died mystiriously which meant beli was given to disstant relitives who sold her into slavery. But then la inca found her and adopted her. My book goes back to oscar who was moving back home after graduating collage and he started working at his old highschool. During summer he travled to Santo Dominigo which was where he met a woman named Ybon and he feel in love with her even tho she had a boyfriend who was a cop, this made Ybons boyfriend jealous. Ybons boyfriend witnessed Oscar kissing Ybon and he sent his henchmen after Oscar to bring Oscar to a cane field and beat him. after that we find out that Yunior gets with Lola. Oscar survived this and returned to New Jersey but he couldnt get his mind off of Ybon so he returned to Santo Dominigo to see Ybon and she begged him to leave but he stayed and Ybons boyfriend found out and sent his henchmen again to kidnap and execute Oscar and Oscar didnt make it. Beli (Oscars mom) died after Oscars funaral and Lola broke up with Yunior and moved to Miami and had a kid with a different man but then she moved back to new jersey. how difficult is it for an immigrant to become their own person? Are there times where they aren’t defined by their culture or other stereotypes? Oscar has to deal with his family putting their beliefs onto him. He also has to deal with his weight which makes it hard for him to find himself and become his own person. A good example of this is when he tried very hard to pursue someone he loves and who also loves him back but in the end he fails by getting killed by the girls boyfriend “he chased her. Sat in front of her house, called her on her beeper,went to the World Famous Riverside, where she worked, walked to the supermarket whenever he saw her truck pull out, just incase she was on her way there.”(317 Diaz) 5 days ago By alsmi... By the end of the book, wouldn't you say that Kim becomes her own person? She doesn't just follow the path of an immigrant or the path that her mother had laid out for her. Can you find a quote from the last section of your book that helps show where she's doing things for herself? 5 days ago By jenni... view all posts
	3. Group A--echadburn26 By jennifer.chick@rsu4.org 1 week ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	Do they ever getting a happy ending after everything they went through? 5 days ago By echad... I like how you used that quote, it goes really well with what you were saying. 5 days ago By echad... The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villastante follows Marisol and her younger sister Gabi trying to seek asylum in the United States from El salvador. Both the girls had to flee their country due to gang violence and the dangerous situation they had been in, after Marisol and Gabi’s brother were murder they flee to the US and their mother into hiding.During this Marisol is conducted into an experiment to stay in the united states and have a safe haven for both her and her sister. Marisol is a young immigrant from El Salvador and a process that she goes through is going through an experiment just to keep her and her sister in the United States. The hardest part of this is that the experiment is taking pain from veterans and people with immense trauma while she's still dealing with her own trauma. “It isn't that I don't trust Gabi-I trust her with my life. But Pablos words dig in like a worm..do you think I would let you infect out little sister with your disease?”(Villiasate 271). 5 days ago By cmood... view all posts
	3. Group H--dbubier26 By jennifer.chick@rsu4.org 1 week ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	How do they respond to this? Do they just accept it or fight for it? 5 days ago By imado... In Out of Nowhere, Maria Padian tells the story of Tom Bouchard, a high school senior living in a small town in Maine. Tom’s life is relatively quiet and revolves around playing soccer for his school team. However, this changes with the arrival of several Somali refugees, particularly one named Saeed. Tom becomes curious about him, and he admires his soccer skills. Although Saeed doesn't speak much English, Tom, as captain of the team, offers to help him. Over time, they become close friends. However, things take a turn when Tom and his friend Donnie are caught sneaking into another high school to paint over their rival's rock. Tom is sentenced to 100 hours of community service and must repaint the rock. Meanwhile, as more immigrant groups arrive at school, communication becomes difficult due to language barriers. This leads to segregation based on culture, religion, and language. However, Tom is a very social person and is always trying to talk with immigrants and understand their situation. Another place he does this besides school is the volunteering place for his community hours, where he helps a little Somali kid to get his school work done. There he also meets Myla, a girl in College who loves volunteering and helping immigrants. Tom starts having feelings for her, and takes her out for dinner a couple of times, even though he already has a girlfriend, Cherisse. Tom is learning a lot about Somali people and their tradition. There’s one in particular that he is a little concerned about: Ramadan. This is because he made a bet with the Maquoit school for their next soccer game. Back then, Tom didn’t know it was scheduled during Ramadan, which means their best players won’t be at their maximum condition. Fortunately, they end up beating Maquoit, their biggest rivals, so everyone is really happy about that. Tom breaks up with his girlfriend Cherisse and starts dating Mayla. At this point, everything seems to be going great in Tom’s life. But everything changes when Maquoit questions Saeed’s eligibility, so he’s not allowed to play for a while. Everyone on the soccer team is really mad about this. Especially Saeed and Tom, who is trying to understand why Maquoit is doing that. After talking to Alex, a friend of Tom from Maquoit, it seems like everything is back to normal. But then a huge storm hits, and the entire town collapses, losing all power. During the storm, Saeed disappears, and Tom gets a call from Donnie's mom: Donnie's been in a terrible accident and is in the hospital. Tom immediately goes there with his father. After waiting for a long time, the doctors say that Donnie will live, but it will take very long until he recovers. Unexpectedly, Mayla and Samira, Saeed’s sister, show up at the hospital, looking for Saeed. Samira starts to panic, worrying deeply about him, which makes Tom feel very sorry for her and decides to give her a hug. Unfortunately, Cherisse sees this and takes a picture of the exact moment, and posts it on Facebook. At first Tom doesn’t realize how bad this is, until Mayla tells him. Somali girls are not supposed to touch anyone outside their family. Because of this, the whole Somali community is really mad at Samira, and her family. Meanwhile, Saeed’s family finally contacts the police, reporting him missing. Tom is being interrogated at Saeed's house, when he walks in through the door. It turns out that Saeed was playing for another soccer team in Portland and couldn’t get a ride home. Tom tells Saeed about the situation with Samira, but there’s nothing they can do about it. One day, Saeed and his whole family are missing. After soccer practice, Tom stops by their house, but no one is there. They seem to be gone. Nobody knows anything about them. A few days later, Tom and Myla are studying at the library when Myla gets an email from Samira. She explains that they moved to Minneapolis and now live with her uncle and his family. She is really sad and misses a lot of things and people from Maine. But they all know it’s better for them this way. When has your character gone outside the rules or broken the law to help them succeed? What drove them to do this? What was the result or outcome? In the last third of my book, nobody breaks the law, but Tom does something that could be seen as a violation when he hugs Samira. Tom was born and raised in the U.S., so he doesn't know about some Somali traditions or prohibitions. At the hospital, when Samira and Myla were searching for Saeed, Tom could tell that Samira was very worried. He felt sorry for her and decided to hug her. Tom’s ex-girlfriend happened to capture this moment in a photo and posted it on Facebook. Myla tried to explain to Tom why this was problematic, but he didn’t understand. A few days later, Tom learns from Saeed: "In Islam, it says woman must not show hair, or the skin, to man outside the family. Woman must not touch man outside the family." (Padian 295). Tom then realizes that Samira may have inadvertently broken Somali cultural rules because of his actions. He tries to explain this to everyone, but the photo Cherisse took tells a different story, and there’s nothing he can do to change that. 6 days ago By imado... How did Saeed react to being cut off the team? What was he feeling? 6 days ago By dbubi... view all posts
	3. Group D--nsaindon26 By emilysue.barker 2 weeks ago \| Last Post: 5 days ago Forum Perspective Discussions
	In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padion Tom Boucher meets Somali kids on his soccer team that have struggled adapting to the U.S and face many discrimination and challenges. Most of the Somalians immigrated to Maine during the same time as 9/11 which had them treated unfairly. Tom starts to realise how unfairly they are being treated when he starts doing social work in a town with mostly immigrants. A quote showing they try to adapt and impress the people they know is when one of Tom's classmates said “Sometimes he surprised me and came up with a string of English that made you think he could speak the language. Other times he faded and I couldn’t tell if he was just not getting the words or avoiding a topic.” (Padian 96). Saeed would try to speak in English as much as he could to impress the American kids and some people started to realise his efforts even if they weren't always successful. 5 days ago By wblie... I think this is a good example of your character being seen from a different perspective 5 days ago By cleac... In my book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz it follows the life of a overweight, nerdy kid who moved to New Jersey from the Dominican. throughout the book Oscar is seen as a outsider, and goes through many stuggles, including his love life, his family history, and making friends. Oscars efforts whether its finding love or making friends, its often met with failure. As Oscar moves on to college, he has many thoughts of ending his own life because he feels lonely and feels like he's been completely rejected in his social life and love life. His friend Yunior is really the only person who recognized his efforts, "Oscar tried. he really tried. But he was too much of a romantic, too much of a fool. he thought he could overcome everything, his geekiness, his families curse, the fact that he was a Dominican in America." (Diaz 318) this quote shows that his efforts were recognized by other people. And it even tells us some of the efforts he made. 6 days ago By cleac... view all posts

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