UNIT 1- IMMIGRATION BOOK

1

UNIT 1:
IMMIGRATION

ELA 8 STUDENT NAME ______________________
MARKING PERIOD 1

A Little Historical Info on
American Immigration

Ellis Island The United States experienced major waves of immigration
Information during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from
Historical Information the 1880s to 1920. Many immigrants came to America seeking
greater economic opportunity, while some, such as the Pilgrims in
2 the early 1600s, arrived in search of religious freedom. From the
17th to 19th centuries, hundreds of thousands of African slaves
Angel Island Poems came to America against their will. The first significant federal
Immigrant poetry legislation restricting immigration was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion
written while detained. Act. Individual states regulated immigration prior to the 1892
opening of Ellis Island, the country’s first federal immigration
5 station. New laws in 1965 ended the quota system that favored
European immigrants, and today, the majority of the country’s
immigrants hail from Asia and Latin America.

Immigration During the Colonial Era

From its earliest days, America has been a nation of 4

immigrants, starting with its original inhabitants, who

Follow me to Page

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Ellis
Island

Ellis Island and Federal Immigration iBnedtuwseternia1li8za80tioab[nnNydalainmn1d9ee2u]0r,baantiimzaetioofnr,apid
Regulation America received more than 20 million
immigrants. Beginning in the 1890s, the
One of the first significant pieces of majority of arrivals were from Central,
federal legislation aimed at restricting Eastern and Southern Europe. In that
immigration was the Chinese Exclusion decade alone, some 600,000 Italians
Act of 1882, which banned Chinese migrated to America, and by 1920 more
laborers from coming to America. than 4 million had entered the United
Californians had agitated for the new law, States. Jews from Eastern Europe fleeing
blaming the Chinese, who were willing to religious persecution also arrived in large
work for less, for a decline in wages. numbers; over 2 million entered the
United States between 1880 and 1920.
For much of the 1900s, the federal The peak year for admission of new
government had left immigration policy to immigrants was 1907, when
individual states. However, by the final approximately 1.3 million people entered
decade of the century, the government the country legally. Within a decade, the
decided it needed to step in to handle the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918)
ever-increasing influx of newcomers. In caused a decline in immigration. In 1917,
1890, President Benjamin Harrison (1833- Congress enacted legislation requiring
1901) designated Ellis Island, located in immigrants over 16 to pass a literacy test,
New York Harbor near the Statue of and in the early 1920s immigration quotas
Liberty, as a federal immigration station. were established. The Immigration Act of
More than 12 million immigrants entered 1924 created a quota system that
the United States through Ellis Island restricted entry to 2 percent of the total
during its years of operation from 1892 to number of people of each nationality in
1954. America as of the 1890 national census–a
system that favored immigrants from
Task: Create a Circle Map of all of the Western Europe–and prohibited
info you learned from this article on Ellis immigrants from Asia. (history.com)

Island.
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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

The New Colossus Description of Immigrants
Emma Lazarus 1883 Leaving Ellis Island
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.
Jacob Riis Publisher Unknown, 1903 (?)
php/prmMID/16111
Not like the brazen giant of Greek http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Past.html
fame
With conquering limbs astride from The railroad ferries come and take their daily host straight from
land to land; Ellis Island to the train, ticketed now with the name of the route
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates that is to deliver them at their new homes, West and East. And
shall stand the Battery boat comes every hour for its share. Then the many-
A mighty woman with a torch, whose hued procession - the women are hooded, one and all, in their
flame gayety shawls for the entry – is led down on a long pathway
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her divided in the middle by a wire screen, from behind which come
name shrieks of recognition from fathers, brothers, uncles, and aunts
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon- that are gathered there in the holiday togs of Mulberry or
hand Division Street. The contrast is sharp; an artist would say all in
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild favor of the newcomers. But they would be the last to agree with
eyes command him. In another week the rainbow colors will have been laid
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities aside, and the landscape will be poorer for it. On the boat they
frame, meet their friends, and the long journey is over, the new life
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied begun. Those who have no friends run the gauntlet of the
pomp!" cries she boarding-house runners, and take their chances with the new
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, freedom, unless the missionary or "the society" of their people
your poor, holds out a helping hand. For at the barge-office gate Uncle Sam
Your huddled masses yearning to lets go. Through it they must walk alone.
breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming Vocabulary:
shore,
Send these, the homeless, Many-hued: Gayety:
tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden Gauntlet: Boarding-house:
door!"
Task: Write a paragraph describing the words that the author uses
Task: What is the SSTM? to explain the “newcomers”? (What Map will help you plan?)

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2 Marking Period 1

Unit 1: Immigration Thinking Maps

Continued from page 1

crossed the land bridge connecting Asia and North America tens of
thousands of years ago. By the 1500s, the first Europeans, led by
the Spanish and French, had begun establishing settlements in what
would become the United States. In 1607, the English founded their
first permanent settlement in present-day America at Jamestown in
the Virginia Colony.

Some of America’s first settlers came in search of freedom
to practice their faith. In 1620, a group of roughly 100 people later
known as the Pilgrims fled religious persecution in Europe and
arrived at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they
established a colony. They were soon followed by a larger group
seeking religious freedom, the Puritans, who established the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. By some estimates, 20,000 Puritans
migrated to the region between 1630 and 1640.

A larger share of immigrants came to America seeking
economic opportunities. However, because the price of passage was
steep, an estimated one-half or more of the white Europeans who
made the voyage did so by becoming indentured servants. Although
some people voluntarily indentured themselves, others were
kidnapped in European cities and forced into servitude in America.
Additionally, thousands of English convicts were shipped across
the Atlantic as indentured servants.

Another group of immigrants who arrived against their will
during the colonial period were black slaves from West Africa. The
earliest records of slavery in America include a group of
approximately 20 Africans who were forced into indentured
servitude in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. By 1680, there were
some 7,000 African slaves in the American colonies, a number that
ballooned to 700,000 by 1790, according to some estimates.
Congress outlawed the importation of slaves to the United States as
of 1808, but the practice continued. The U.S. Civil War (1861-
1865) resulted in the emancipation of approximately 4 million
slaves. Although the exact numbers will never be known, it is
believed that 500,000 to 650,000 Africans were brought to America
and sold into slavery between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Immigration During the Mid 19th Century

Another major wave of immigration occurred from around
1815 to 1865. The majority of these newcomers hailed from
Northern and Western Europe. Approximately one-third came from
Ireland, which experienced a massive famine in the mid-19th

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

(Continued from page 4) Angel Island Poems

century. In the 1840s, almost half of America’s I am distressed that we Chinese are
immigrants were from Ireland alone. Typically in this wooden building
impoverished, these Irish immigrants settled near It is actually racial barriers which cause
their point of arrival in cities along the East difficulties on Yingtai Island.
Coast. Between 1820 and 1930, some 4.5 million Even while they are tyrannical they still
Irish migrated to the United States. claim to be humanitarian.
I should regret my taking the risks of
Also in the 19th century, the United coming in the first place.
States received some 5 million German
immigrants. Many of them journeyed to the Originally, I had intended to come to America
present-day Midwest to buy farms or last year.
congregated in such cities as Milwaukee, St. Lack of money delayed me until early autumn.
Louis and Cincinnati. In the national census of It was on the day that the Weaver Maiden met
2000, more Americans claimed German ancestry the Cowherd
than any other group. That I took passage on the President Lincoln.
I ate wind and tasted waves for more than
During the mid-1800s, a significant twenty days.
number of Asian immigrants settled in the Fortunately, I arrived safely on the American
United States. Lured by news of the California continent.
gold rush, some 25,000 Chinese had migrated I thought I could land in a few days.
there by the early 1850s. How was I to know I would become a prisoner
suffering in the wooden building?
The influx of newcomers resulted in anti- The barbarians' abuse is really difficult to take.
immigrant sentiment among certain factions of When my family's circumstances stir my
America’s native-born, predominantly Anglo- emotions, a double stream of tears flow.
Saxon Protestant population. The new arrivals I only wish I can land in San Francisco soon.
were often seen as unwanted competition for Thus sparing me the additional sorrow here.
jobs, while many Catholics–especially the Irish–
experienced discrimination for their religious Instead of remaining a citizen of China, I
beliefs. In the 1850s, the anti-immigrant, anti- willingly became an ox.
Catholic American Party (also called the Know- I intended to come to America to earn a living.
Nothings) tried to severely curb immigration, The Western styled buildings are lofty; but I have
and even ran a candidate, former U.S. president not the luck to live in them.
Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), in the presidential How was anyone to know that my dwelling place
election of 1956. would be a prison?

Following the Civil War, the United Task: What do these poems show you about the
States experienced a depression in the 1870s that point of view of the immigrants? Write a
contributed to a slowdown in immigration. paragraph and use a Thinking Map to brainstorm.
(history.com) Which map should you use?

Task: Create a Flow Map of the events 5
involved in immigration to American from
the Colonial Era to the Civil War.

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

On the Trail of the Immigrant

Edward Steiner Fleming H. Revel, 1906

http://archive.org/details/ontrailimmigran03steigoog

Excerpt: Chapter V AT THE GATEWAY

The barges on which the immigrants are towed towards the island are of a somewhat antiquated
pattern, and if I remember rightly have done service in the Castle Garden days, and before that some of
them at least had done full service for excursion parties up and down Long Island Sound. The structure
towards which we sail and which gradually rises from the surrounding sea is rather imposing, and
impresses one by its utilitarian dignity and by its plainly expressed official character.

With tickets fastened to our caps and to the dresses of the women, and with our own bills of landing
in our trembling hands, we pass between rows of uniformed attendants, and under the huge portal of the
vast hall where the final judgment awaits us. We are cheered somewhat by the fact that assistance is
promised to most of us by the agents of various National Immigrant Societies who seem both watchful and

efficient.

Mechanically and with quick movements, we are examined for general physical defects and for the
dreaded trachoma, an eye disease, the prevalence of which is greater in the imagination of some
statisticians than it is on board immigrant vessels.

From here we pass into passageways made by iron railings, in which only lately, through the
intervention of a humane official, benches have been placed, upon which, closely crowded, we await our

passing before the inspectors.

Already a sifting process has taken place; and children who clung to their mother’s skirts have
disappeared, families have been divided, and those remaining intact, cling to each other in a really tragic
fear that they may share the fate of those previously examined.

A Polish woman by my side has suddenly become aware that she has one child less clinging to her
skirts, and she implores me with agonizing cries, to bring it back to her. In a strange world, at the very
entrance to what is to be her home, without the protection of her husband, without any knowledge of the
English language, and with no one taking the trouble to explain to her the reason, the child was snatched
from her side. Somewhere it is bitterly crying for its mother, and each is unconscious of the other’s fate.

Vocabulary:

Antiquated: Excursion: Imposing:

Utilitarian dignity: Portal: Trachoma:

Statisticians: Agonizing:

Task: What details does Steiner provide about the Polish woman he encounters, and how do those details

evoke feelings in us as readers? Write a paragraph using one of the Thinking Maps to brainstorm. (Which
one will you use?)

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

The Promised Land

Mary Antin Houghton Mifflin, 1912

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20885

Excerpt: Chapter IX

Our initiation into American ways began with the first step on the new soil. My father corrected us even on
the way from the pier to Wall Street, which journey we made crowded together in a rickety cab. He told us not to
lean out of the windows, not to point, and explained the word greenhorn. We did not want to be greenhorns. So we
paid the strictest attention to my father’s instructions.

The first meal was an object lesson of much variety. My father produced several kinds of food, ready to eat,
without any cooking, from little cans that had printing all over them. He tried to introduce us to a queer, slippery
kind of fruit, which he called a banana. But he had to give it up for the time being. After the meal he had better luck
with a curious piece of furniture on runners, which he called a rocking chair. There were five of us newcomers, and
we found five different ways of getting into the American machine of perpetual motion and as many ways of
getting out of it. We laughed over various experiments with the novelty, which was a wholesome way of letting off
steam after the unusual excitement of the day.

In our flat there was no bathtub. So in the evening of the first day my father conducted us to the public
baths. As we moved along in a little procession, I was delighted with the lighting of the streets. So many lamps, and
they burned until morning, my father said, and so people did not need to carry lanterns. In America, then, everything
was free; the streets were as bright as a synagogue on a holy day. Music was free; we had been serenaded, to our
delight, by a brass band of many pieces soon after our installation on Union Place.

Education was free. That subject my father had written about repeatedly as comprising his chief hope for us
children, the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or
poverty. On our second day I was thrilled with the realization of what this freedom of education meant.

A little girl from across the alley came and offered to conduct us to school. My father was out, but we five
between us had a few words of English by this time. We knew the word school. We understood. This child, who had
never seen us till yesterday, who could not pronounce our names, who was able to offer us the freedom of the
schools of Boston! No application made, no questions asked, no examinations, rulings, exclusions; no fees. The
doors stood open for every one of us. The smallest child could show us the way. This incident impressed me more
than anything I had heard in advance of the freedom of education in America.

Even the interval on Union Place was crowded with lessons and experiences. We had to visit the stores and
be dressed from head to foot in American clothing. We had to learn the mysteries of their on stove, the wash board,
and the speaking tube. We had to learn to trade with the fruit peddler through the window and not to be afraid of the
policeman. And, above all, we had to learn English.

Vocabulary:

Initiation: Rickety: Greenhorns:

Object lesson: Perpetual: Novelty:

Procession: Essence: Interval:

Task: What types of things does Antin tell us she had to learn? How does this string of details suggest what
it meant for her to become an American? Write a paragraph and use a Thinking Map to organize your
thoughts. (Which Thinking Map is best to use?)

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Rebels: Into Anarchy And Out Again

Marie Ganz and Nat J. Ferber Dodd, Mead and Company, 1920

http://archive.org/details/rebelsintoanarc00ferbgoog

Excerpt: Chapter I

It was a home of two tiny rooms. The room in the rear was not much larger than a good-sized
clothes closet, and not the stuffiest of closets could be more lacking in sunlight and air. The walls were as
blank as an underground dungeon's. There was neither window nor ventilating shaft. The room In front,
almost twice as large, though half a dozen steps would have brought anybody with full-grown legs across
its entire length, was a kitchen and living-room by day, a bedroom by night. Its two little windows gave a
view of a narrow, stone-paved court and, not ten feet away, the rear wall of another tenement. The sunlight
never found its way into that little court. By day it was dim and damp, by night a fearsome place, black and
sepulchral.

In this little bit of a home lived five persons, my father and mother, myself, my baby brother, and
Schmeel, our boarder. What squalid home in New York's crowded ghetto is without its boarder? How can
that ever-present bogy, the rent, be met without him? He must be wedged in somehow, no matter how little
space there may be. My father had established this home, our first in the New World, through God knows
how much toil and worry and self-sacrifice. It took him two years to do it, and he must have haggled with all
the bartering instinct of his race over the price of many a banana in the stock on his pushcart in Hester
Street before his little hoard of savings had grown large enough to hire and furnish those two miserable
rooms and to send tickets to his family in Galicia.

I was only five years old when in the summer of 1896 we joined him in America, but I remember well
the day when he met us at Ellis Island. He was like a stranger to me, for I had been not much more than a
baby when he left us on our Galician farm, but no child could be on distant terms with him long. Children
took to him at once. He understood them, and was never so happy as when joining in their play. A quiet,
unobtrusive man was my father, tall and slender, with a short yellow beard and mild blue eyes, and I have
not forgotten the childlike glow of happiness that was in his face as he welcomed us.

I suppose it is the experience of most people that among the little scraps of our past lives that we
carry with us the most insignificant things are apt to stand out more clearly than others of greater moment.
I have found it so. I like to go groping into the past now and then, stirred by curiosity as to how far memory
will carry me. It is a fascinating game, this of peering into the dim vistas of the long ago, where the mists of
time are shifting as if blown by the wind. Now against the far horizon one scene stands out clearly, then
another, as the mists fall apart and close again. Now the perfume of flowers comes to me, and I see our
garden in front of the old Galician home — the bright little spot which is all I remember of the Old World.
Now a breath of salt air is in my face, and I see a rolling sea and a distant, low-lying shore—my one
memory of our journey to America.

But however disconnected and far apart the few scenes that still come back to me from the first
years of my life, I have glimpses of our arrival in New York that are as vivid as if it had been only yesterday.
In a quiet hour alone I wave the years away, and I am a child again, trudging along beside my father, who,
weighted down with the great rolls of bedding we had brought with us from the old home, is guiding us
through strange, noisy streets. I am staring in wonder at the great buildings and the never-ending crowds
of people. I am frightened, bewildered, ready to cry. I keep a tiny hand twisted in the tail of my father's coat,
fearing to lose him.

At last we turn into a dark, dirty alley, which runs like a tunnel under a tenement house and leads us
to our future home in the building in the rear.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Oh, how hot and stuffy were those two little rooms that we entered!
The city was scorching under one of the hot waves that bring such untold
misery to the tenements. Not a breath of air stirred. The place was an
oven. But, flushed with heat and perspiring though he was, my father
ushered us in with a great show of joy and enthusiasm. Suddenly his
smile gave way to an expression that reflected bitter disappointment and
injured pride as he became aware of the disgust which my mother could
not conceal.

"So we have crossed half the world for this!" she cried, thinking
bitterly of the comfortable farmhouse we had left behind us. I can see her
now as she stood that moment facing my father, her eyes full of reproach -
a pretty, slender woman with thick, black hair and a face as fresh and
smooth as a girl's.

I am sure it had never occurred to poor, dreamy, impractical
Lazarus Ganz that his wife might be disappointed with the new home he
had provided for her, or that he had ever fully realized how squalid it was. He was one of the most
sensitive of men, and the look of pain in his face as he saw the impression the place made on her filled me
with pity for him, young as I was. A five-year-old child is not apt to carry many distinct memories from that
age through life, but that scene I have never forgotten.

Task: Compare and contrast the experiences of Ganz’ mother and the
experiences of another character in one of the texts read thus far. You must
use a Thinking Map of your choice and write an essay focusing on the task
above.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American
Slave

Frederick Douglass Boston Anti-slavery Office,1845
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23
Excerpt: Chapter XI

Things went on without very smoothly indeed, but within there was trouble. It is
impossible for me to describe my feelings as the time of my contemplated start drew
near. I had a number of warmhearted friends in Baltimore, —friends that I loved almost
as I did my life,—and the thought of being separated from them forever was painful
beyond expression. It is my opinion that thousands would escape from slavery, who now
remain, but for the strong cords of affection that bind them to their friends. The thought
of leaving my friends was decidedly the most painful thought with which I had to
contend. The love of them was my tender point, and shook my decision more than all
things else. Besides the pain of separation, the dread and apprehension of a failure
exceeded what I
had experienced at my first attempt. The appalling defeat I then sustained returned to
torment me. I felt assured that, if I failed in this attempt, my case would be a hopeless
one—it would seal my fate as a slave forever. I could not hope to get off with any thing
less than the severest punishment, and being placed beyond the means of escape. It
required no very vivid imagination to depict the most frightful scenes through which I
should have to pass, in case I failed. The wretchedness of slavery, and the blessedness of
freedom, were perpetually before me. It was life and death with me. But I remained firm,
and, according to my resolution, on the third day of September, 1838, I left my chains,
and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind. How
I did so, —what means I adopted,—what direction I travelled, and by what mode of
conveyance,—I must leave unexplained, for the reasons before mentioned.

I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself in a free State. I have
never been able to answer the question with any satisfaction to myself. It was a moment
of the highest excitement I ever experienced. I suppose I felt as one may imagine the
unarmed mariner to feel when he is rescued by a friendly man-of-war from the pursuit
of a pirate. In writing to a dear friend, immediately after my arrival at New York, I said I
felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions. This state of mind, however, very
soon subsided; and I was again seized with a feeling of great insecurity and loneliness. I
was yet liable to be taken back, and subjected to all the tortures of slavery. This in itself
was enough to damp the ardor of my enthusiasm. But the loneliness overcame me. There
I was in the midst of thousands, and yet a perfect stranger; without home and without
friends, in the midst of thousands of my own brethren—children of a common Father, and
yet I dared not to unfold to any one of them my sad condition. I was afraid to speak to any
one for fear of speaking to the wrong one, and thereby falling into the hands of money-
loving kidnappers, whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive, as the
ferocious beasts of the forest lie in wait for their prey. The motto which I adopted when I
started from slavery was this—"Trust no man!" I saw in every white man an enemy, and
in almost every colored man cause for distrust. It was a most painful situation; and, to
understand it, one must needs experience it, or imagine himself in similar circumstances.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

slaveholders—whose inhabitants are legalized
kidnappers—where he is every moment subjected to the
terrible liability of being seized upon by his fellowmen, as
the hideous crocodile seizes upon his prey!—I say, let him
place himself in my situation—without home or friends—
without money or credit—wanting shelter, and no one to
give it— wanting bread, and no money to buy it,—and at
the same time let him feel that he is
pursued by merciless men-hunters, and in total darkness as
to what to do, where to go, or where to stay,—perfectly
helpless both as to the means of defense and means of
escape, —in the midst of plenty, yet suffering the terrible
gnawings of hunger,—in the midst of houses, yet having
no home,—among fellow-men, yet feeling as if in the midst
of wild beasts, whose greediness to swallow up the
trembling and half-famished fugitive is only
equaled by that with which the monsters of the deep swallow up the helpless fish upon
which they subsist,—I say, let him be placed in this most trying situation,—the situation
in which I was placed,—then, and not till then, will he fully appreciate the hardships of,
and know how to sympathize with, the toil-worn and whip-scarred fugitive slave.

Vocabulary:

Task: Write an essay in which you compare and contrast Frederick Douglass’ life with
those of any other immigrants you have read about. You must use Douglass’ story as
well as two other stories of poems. Make sure you use a thinking map to plan. (Which
one will you use?)

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

BY

Vocabulary: Thanhha Lai

Saigon - city in South Vietnam
Lunar (9) - relating to the moon
Tet (9) - Vietnamese New Year

Foretells (9) - predicts
Predict (11) - say or estimate that a specific thing will happen
Ripening (14) - become or make ripe
Captured (16) - take into possession or control by force
Glutinous (16) - like glue in texture
Chant (16) - repeated rhythmic phrase
Communist (24) - a person who takes part in communist movement/ideology
Justify (24) - show or prove to be right or reasonable
Flaunts (24) - display ostentatiously

Migration (25) - move from one region or habitat to another
Resemble (26) - have qualities or features in common with someone or something
Dignity (36) - the quality of being worthy of honor or respect
Monsoon (40) - a seasonal prevailing wind in the region
Pact (42) - a formal agreement between people or groups
Ancestral (42) - belonging to, inherited from
Gaunt (44) - lean because of suffering of hunger or age
Abandon (49) - give up completely
Release (54) - allow or enable to escape from confinement,

set free
Gigantic (67)- of very great size
Remnant (74) - a small remaining quantity of something
Tangible (74) - perceptive by touch
Amends (77) - reparation or compensation
Sponsored (77) - a person or organization that provides
funds for something
Contorted (82) - twist or bend out of tis normal shape
Diacritical (100) - serving to indicate different
pronunciation of a letter

Solitude (119) - state or situation of being alone
Superstitious (143) - excessively credulous belief in
reverence for supernatural beings;
a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural
causation leading to certain
consequences of an action or event.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Vietnam War Info… Create a Circle map defining Vietnam
based on the Vietnam War info that you
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era just read. Include a
military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos,
and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of § Frame
Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the § Source
First Indochina War and was fought between North § So What?
Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and § So Why?
the government of South Vietnam, supported by
the United States and other anti-communist Write a paragraph paraphrasing the
countries. information you have just learned about
Vietnam. Include Your RAPS and
What is Communism?

Communism is a political theory advocating
class war and leading to a society in which
property is public owned. After WW II, the largest
European power at the time was Soviet Union
(present day Russia) who promoted communism
that in fact did make all the property and jobs
under the control of the government and impose
dictatorial control over its population.

The post WWII was the start of Cold War, a
war between East and West, America and the
Western European countries on one side, and
Soviet Union, Eastern European countries (which
were overtaken by the Soviet Union in the post war
era), China, and a number of smaller countries in
Asia and South America. Vietnam was one of the
Asian countries were the Cold War conflict
culminated. The two powerful ideologies competed
for power and involved the rest of the world in the
ideological and actual war. The Northern Vietnam
was controlled by the communist while the South
Vietnam was supported by the Americans. The
war was long and ineffective. In the end,
thousands died, both Americans and Vietnamese
and the major emigration of Vietnamese refugees
took place.

The Fall of Saigon was the capture of ,
Saigon the capital of South Vietnam, by the
People's Army of Vietnam and the National
Liberation Front on April 30, 1975. The event
marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start
of a transition period leading to the formal
reunification of Vietnam into a communist state.

Britannica Online Encyclopedia http://
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Viet
nam-War

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

What Sign are you? Find Your Zodiac Sign
Do you think your personality At VietHoroscope.com, we make
matches the animal that matches
your birth year? Why? Why not? it easy to match a year of
In your groups share your sign, and birth to a Vietnamese zodiac
discuss with others if you feel you
fit that sign. sign.
Task: Write a paragraph about your
sign and discuss if you feel it Year of the Rat
defines you as a person. 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948,
1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008,
14 2020
Year of the Ox
1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949,
1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009,
2021
Year of the Tiger
1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950,
1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010,
2022
Year of the Cat
1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951,
1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011,
2023
Year of the Dragon
1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952,
1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012,
2024
Year of the Snake
1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953,
1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Year of the Horse
1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954,
1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026
Year of the Goat
1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955,
1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027
Year of the Monkey
1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956,
1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028
Year of the Rooster
1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957,
1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029
Year of the Dog
1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958,
1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030
Year of the Pig
1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959,
1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

What Do The Signs Mean?

A RAT year prophesies a year of chaos. Rat people are charming and attractive to the
opposite sex, although they have a fear of light and noise. Rat people are active and
dynamic but can be fussy about little things. Rats can have a positive side because if
there are rats, it is a sign that there is grain in the storage bins, so rats can represent a
bountiful harvest. Because it is a nocturnal animal and can be heard scurrying about at
midnight, the period of time between 11pm and 1am is called the rat hour.

The BUFFALO (OX) symbolizes industriousness and patience. The year is one of slow,
steady progress and patient strength; traits suitable for a scientist. He is the traditional
symbol of spring and agriculture because of his association with the plow and his
pleasure in wallowing in mud. People of that year are thought to possess the
characteristics of that animal: steady, placid, but stubborn when crossed. The buffalo
hours are from 1 am to 3 am when buffalo are feeding and the day's farm work begins.

TIGERS are quick to anger, indecisive but can be flexible and accommodate their
personalities to suit the circumstances. He is the king of the jungle, nocturnal and evokes
images of darkness and stormy weather. The period from 3am to 5am is the time when
the tiger returns to his lair after prowling at night.

CATS are smooth talkers, talented and ambitious and will succeed in
studies. They are in conflict with the rat. A cat person has a supple mind and patient
personality and knows how to wait for favorable conditions before taking action. Cat hours
are between 5am and 7am, when cats begin their prowling.

The DRAGON in eastern mythology can be protective and a symbol of the male
(yang) principal of the universe of royal authority. The dragon is in its element
everywhere; under water, on the ground and in the air. It is a water sign and a
propitious sign for agriculture. Dragons are sincere, energetic but short-tempered
and stubborn. They are symbols of power, wealth and prosperity and of royalty.
There is a saying "In the year of the dragon, everyone keeps his food for himself".

Famine usually appears in these years. His hours are between 7am and 9am.

SNAKES speak little but have tremendous wisdom. They are associated with the damp earth.
Snakes symbolize the eternal revolution of the ages and the succession, dissolution and
regeneration of humanity. Snake year people are considered calm and gentle, profound,
compassionate, but may fly off the handle at times. They are determined and persistent. His
hours are 9am to 11am.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

HORSE year people are smooth talkers and given to compliments and generosity,
therefore, they are popular, but rarely listen to advice. Its propensity to kick evokes
images of a quick-tempered personality. The horse's speed has caused him to be
compared with the sun that traverses the earth daily. In legend, the sun is associated
with fiery steeds. The Greek myth related to this is of Apollo driving the chariot of the
sun across the skies each day. The horse is invested with purity, nobility and wisdom.
It is esteemed for altertness, intelligence, strength and is a friend to man. Noontime,
when the sun is the highest, is the horse hour.

The GOAT people are calm and shy, unassertive and self-effacing. They are clumsy in
speech so they are poor salespersons, but are compassionate for the less fortunate,
and help others. They are often taken advantage of because of their natural kindness
and timidity. His hours are between 1pm and 3pm.

The MONKEY is an erratic genius. They are clever and skillful when making financial
deals. They are cheerful, skillful, curious and inventive, but they may drive people
away by talking too much and being contemptuous of others. Their weakness lies in
their tendency to be erratic and inconsistent. The time between 3pm and 5pm is the
monkey hour.

The ROOSTER year represents a period of hard work and activity as the rooster is busy
from morning to night. His comb is a mark of high intelligence and of a literary spirit.
People born in the year of the cock are considered profound thinkers. At the same time,
he is a symbol of protection against fires. Pictures of a red cock are hung in houses for
that reason. People born in the cock year earn their living from small businesses they practice with diligence
like a "cock scratching the soil for worms". Because ghosts disappear at sunrise it is believed that the cock
drives them away with his crowing. A white cock is sometimes placed on the coffin of funeral processions to
make the way free from demons. The cock controls the hours between 5pm and 7pm.

The year of the DOG indicates future prosperity. Worldwide, the dog is used as a guard
against intruders. Pairs of stone or ceramic dogs are placed on each side of the entrance
to villages and temples as guards. The dog year will be secure and protected. The hour of
the dog is 7pm to 9pm when people of rural Vietnam have gone to bed and leave the dog
to keep watch.

The PIG symbolizes the wealth of the forest because the boar maintains his lair in
the woods. Boar year people are chivalrous and gallant, honest, courageous, but
headstrong and short tempered, impulsive, studious and well informed. The hour of
the pig is between 9pm and 11pm.

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Part 1: Saigon
Ø Read pages 1-9 as a whole class.
Ø Read pages 10-21 individually.
Ø Read pages 22-29 individually.
Ø Read pages 30-36 as a whole class.
Ø Read pages 37-47 individually.
Ø Read pages 48-66 individually.
Ø Read pages 67-69 as a whole class

Part 2: At Sea
ü Read pages 73-82 individually.
ü Read pages 83-93 individually.
ü Read pages 94-111 individually.

Part 3: Alabama Remember sometimes
o Read pages 115-122 individually. you might have to
o Read pages 123-135 individually. read the text 2-3
o Read pages 136-150 individually. times to get
o Read pages 151-165 individually.
o Read pages 166-179 individually. everything you need
o Read pages 180-193 individually.
o Read pages 194-204 individually. out of it.
o Read pages 205-216 individually.
o Read pages 217-229 individually.
o Read pages 230-234 individually.

Part 4: From Now On
v Read pages 237-252 individually.
v Read pages 253-260 as a whole
class.

17

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Why are notes so important?
ü To think about what you are reading in a critical

way.
ü To remember key details of the text.
ü To prepare for tests and writing pieces in a more

effective way.
So while you are reading this novel you will take notes?

18

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Part I: Saigon “TV News”
Ø Who are the communists?
“1975: Year of the Cat”
Ø What do we learn about a 10 year Ø When did the fight about communism
take place?
old girl from “1975: Year of the
Cat”? “Birthday”
Ø What can you tell about the gender Ø What special privileges does Kim Ha
relationship in Vietnamese culture?
Ø Who gets to rise first to bless the gets as the youngest daughter?
house? Ø Who was Ho Chi Minh?
Ø How does that make the girl feel?
Ø What is she planning to do about it? Ø What happened to to Kim Haʼs family as
a result of the country splitting?
“Inside Out”
What can you tell from the “Inside Out” “Birthday Wishes”
Ø Can you relate to Kim Haʼs wishes?
poem?
“Kim Ha” What are yours?
How many brothers does Kim Ha have? Ø Write a poem named “Birthday Wishes”.
“TiTi Waves Good-bye”
Where is TiTi going? “A Day Downtown”
“Missing in Action” What does Kim Haʼs mother think of
Ø When did Kim Haʼs father leave on President Thieuʼs tears?
a navy mission?
Ø What happened to him? “Twisting Twisting”
“Motherʼs Days” What are Kim Haʼs mothers worries?
Ø How does Kim Haʼs mother make a
living? “Bridge to the Sea”
Ø Why arenʼt people buying baby What are Uncle Son and Kim Haʼs
clothes anymore? mother discussing?

“Eggs” “Quiet Decision”
Why does the mother not allow Khoi What can you infer from Kim Haʼs
(Kimʼs brother) to hatch chicken eggs mothers words at the end of the poem?

anymore? “Early Monsoon”
“Feel Smart” Monsoons are seasonal storms in
Compare what Kim Ha could buy last Vietnam. Why does Kim Ha compare
September with 50 dong and what she can early monsoon to sounds of war?
buy now with 200 dong.
“Choice”
Imagine you are in Kim Haʼs shoes and
have to leave your country. You can only
make “one choice”. Write in your binder
what would you bring with you?

“One Mat Each”
How do people travel on the boat?

“Saigon Is Gone”
Saigon is a capital city of South Vietnam.
Where did the city go?

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Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

PART II - At Sea Part III – Alabama
“Floating” “Wishes”

What does Kim Ha notices about the Ø In poem “Wishes” Kim Ha expresses
commanderʼs bathroom? her feelings in a powerful way. She
“Rations” describes the struggle each one of
What are rations? her family members is going
“Once Knew” through, but she is the only one who
speaks, the rest of them try not to
What is traveling on the boat like for Kim complain. Why?
Ha?
Ø In “Wishes” Kim Ha sees her family
“Brother Khoiʼs Secret” having a tough time. How does
What is brother Khoiʼs secret? Bother Khoi endures school?

“Last Respects” Ø What school is like for Brother
The passengers on the ship were informed Khoi?
that South Vietnam no longer exists. How
Ø Why is Brother Quang angry after
do you think that made people feel? work?
“A Kiss”
Ø How does Kim Ha feel about not
What surprises Kim Ha about the captain being able to talk back?
of American ship? Why is Kim Ha
surprised? Ø How does not knowing the language
“Another Tent City” make Kim Ha feel?
Ø Why did Vietnamese family needed “Hiding”
a sponsor in order to leave the Tent
City? Ø In the poem “Hiding”, why do you
Ø Why is Kim Haʼs family having think Kim Ha is hiding?
trouble being picked?
Ø How is Kim Ha practicing to be
The History of Vietnamese seen?
Immigration “Neighbors”

On April 30, 1975, “the fall of Saigon” ended the Vietnam Ø In the poem “Neighbors” do you
War and prompted the first of two waves of emigration think that eggs on the front door,
from Vietnam to the United States. Vietnamese who had bathroom paper on trees and a brick
worked closely with Americans during the Vietnam War through the front window is a kidsʼ
feared reprisals by the Communist party. 125,000 prank?
Vietnamese citizens departed their native country during
the Spring of 1975. They were airlifted or fled Vietnam on Ø How do neighbors react when the
U.S. military cargo ships and transferred to United States cowboy takes the family to meet
government bases in Guam, Thailand, Wake Island, their neighbors?
Hawaii and the Philippines, as part of “Operation New “More Is Not Better”
Life.”
What did Kim Ha realize about her
- by March Povell increased understanding of English?
Source:
“Ha Le Lu Da”
http://www.ailf.org/awards/benefit2005/vie What happens in “Ha Le Lu Da” poem?
tnamese_essay.shtml
“War and Peace”
20 What do you think Kim Ha means when

she says,
“I would choose wartime in Saigon

Over
Peacetime in Alabama.”?

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

Part IV - From Now On
After reading “What If”, “Truly Gone” and “Start Over” explain the ways in which Kim Ha

and her family move on and “start over” their new life in America.

Poetic Devices

Alliteration
Occurs when the author uses the same letter or sound to begin each word in a
string of words, such as, “Abbey’s alligator ate apples and asparagus.”
Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes reference to a well-known person,
event, or place, such as “I was surprised his nose wasn’t growing like Pinocchio’s!”
Assonance:
This is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the
meaning of words and often used to set the mood. Here’s an example of repeated
use of the long “o”: “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of
living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.”
Hyperbole
An exaggerated comment or line used for effect and not meant to be taken
literally.
An example is, “I’ve told you a million times!”
Imagery
Language evoking one, some or all of the five senses. An example is, “She ordered
a triple scoop of mint, chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge and whip cream.”
Metaphor
A direct comparison between two unlike things without using ‘like’ or ‘as.’ An
example would be, “You are the light of my life.”
Personification
Occurs when the author gives animals, objects, ideas or actions; the qualities of
humans. An example is, “The calm sea kissed the southern shore.”
Simile
A comparison of two unlikely items using ‘like’ or ‘as’. An example is, “The pine
trees stood as tall as statues.”
Symbolism
An object or action that mean something more its literal meaning. A symbol’s
meaning rarely changes from text to text. Rainy days always mean a bad day or
hard times.
Tone or Mood
The attitude an author takes toward the shape and life of the words. Tone and
mood give voice and personality to the character, as well as as the whole piece,
where the reader gets a sense of funny, serious, dramatic, etc.

21

Culminating Essay Prompt Need to hear
it to
Essential Question:
What common themes unify the refugee experience? understand
• Use 2-3 texts from this unit to answer the essential it?
question.
• Provide supporting details with quotes and citations. Check out this
• Do not organize your essay per work of literature. You link…
must develop a unique format in order to present your
ideas. you can listen
• To plan you must use a Thinking Map of your choice. to the book!
• Make sure you have an introduction, a minimum of 2
bodies, and a conclusion. https://youtu.be/d4K6n7ng
NXk

Unit 1: Immigration Marking Period 1

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