Inside Out & Back Again Study Guide

STUDY GUIDE

Inside Out & Back Again Header art based on “Wounded Journey” painting by Kyaw Eh

HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE

Book-It Repertory Theatre’s Arts and Education Program closely aligns its performances and learning materials with research-based reading instruction. The purpose of this study guide is to engage students in the Book-It Style®, literacy objectives, and hands-on activities that support the comprehension of Inside Out and Back Again

FIRST: READ THE BOOK

As part of Book-It’s touring package, your school has received a copy of the story that serves as a permanent resource for your library.

LITERACY OBJECTIVES ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE MAKING SELF-TO-TEXT CONNECTIONS VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE REFLECTING & EVALUATING

SECOND: SELECT ACTIVITIES

Select one or all of the activities and adjust them to fit your students and classroom needs. Some activities are designed for teachers to lead students through an interactive process; directions and support materials are included for successful facilitation. Others are handouts for independent student work or to be used for whole-class instruction.

THEMES & CONCEPTS CLASS & STATUS FAMILY & COMMUNITY DYNAMICS IMMIGRATION SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PERSERVERANCE

THIRD: KEEP READING!

Standards for the study guide and Performance: Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts*: R.CCR.1, R.CCR.2, R.CCR.3. R.CCR.4, R.CCR.6, RI.CCR.5, L.CCR.4 Washington EARLs in Theatre: 1.1, 1.4, 3.1, 4.3 *Exact standards depend upon grade level, reading the text, and instructional shifts to meet the Standard Study Guide Written and Formatted by: Jillian Johnson, Teaching Artist Study Guide Edited and Additional Contributions Given by: Annie DiMartino, Director of Education 2

Inside Out & Back Again An important note on the Book-It Style® The use of narrative, particularly third-person narrative, is a hallmark and founding principle of Book-It Repertory Theatre productions since the company’s inception in 1987. Book-It’s approach to narrative text on stage is known throughout theatre communities regionally and nationally as the Book-It Style®. Book-It adaptations provide an experience of the book unlike any other adapted work.

By preserving the author’s original language, Book-It adaptations capture the essence of the novel’s original intent and tone, while celebrating the author’s unique voice.

Actors in a Book-It Style production perform narrative lines in character with objectives and intentions as they would with any line of dialogue in a standard play. Narrative lines are delivered with motivation to other characters, as opposed to a detached delivery straight out to the audience as a narrator.

SCRIPT EXAMPLE:

Mother: (chiding) How we act today foretells the whole year, Mother says. No one can sweep-

Há: My name is Há and I am ten years old! Today is Tet, the first day of the lunar calendar. Today, mother says-

Há/Brother Vu: For why sweep away hope?

Mother: No one can splash water-

Mother: Your brother must rise first this morning to bless our house because-

Há/Brother Vu: For why splash away joy?

Mother/Brother Vu: Only male feet can bring luck.

(Brother Vu teases Há)

Mother: And everyone must smile!

Há/Brother Vu: No matter how we feel!

Há: I pout and an old angry knot expands in my throat. I wish I could do what boys do!

Book-It adapters will often divide descriptive narrative amongst several characters. This arrangement and editing process is a result of purposeful exploration and development over the last 29 years of the company’s artistic history, and overseen by Founding Co-Artistic Directors Jane Jones and Myra Platt.

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Inside Out & Back Again TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE STORY & CHARACTERS

Story Synopsis ................................................................................... 5 Pre Show Classroom Discussion Questions ................................................... 6 Characters in the Story ......................................................................... 7 About the Author: Thannha Lai ............................................................... 8 An Interview with Thannha Lai................................................................ 9

CONTEXT

The Scenic Design of Inside Out & Back Again .............................................. 10 Self-to-Text: Trying New Things .............................................................. 11 Tet ................................................................................................ 12 The Vietnam War................................................................................ 13 What is a Refugee? .............................................................................. 15

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Build Your Own Papaya Tree .................................................................. 16 What Would you Pack? ......................................................................... 17 Types of Poetry.................................................................................. 18 Writing Poetry ................................................................................... 19 Study Guide Sources ............................................................................ 20

INTRODUCTION TO BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATRE’S ARTS & EDUCATION PROGRAM:

Book-It’s Arts and Education Program is dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to read. We tour a diverse range of stories to schools, libraries, and community venues throughout Washington state, conduct long-term residencies in schools, offer teacher professional development for school staff, and present low-cost student matinées of our mainstage shows. What you will see and hear at a Book-It performance is literature spoken by the characters as if it were dialogue in a play—actors speak both the narration and the dialogue. Book-It takes the written word back to its roots—storytelling!

OUR MISSION

To provide an interactive relationship between youth and literature through diverse theatrical productions and educational programs that promote the joy of reading, enhance student and teacher learning, and inspire the imagination.

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Inside Out & Back Again

K-3 Activity

4-6 Activity

STORY SYNOPSIS Inside Out & Back Again is a semi-autobiographical children's middle grade novel which recounts the fleeing of Vietnam by Hà and her family and their immigration to the United States of America. The story, as told through a series of poems begins in 1975, where ten year-old Hà lives in Saigon, South Vietnam, with her mother and three older brothers, Vu, Khoi, and Quang. They are a close-knit, traditional family, though their father was captured by the Communists nine years before.

The family endures high prices and scarcities in food as North Vietnamese forces move toward Saigon. Uncle Son, a friend of Hà’s father, encourages the family to be ready to flee Saigon at a moment’s notice. Hà’s family is divided on whether to leave or stay, but in the end, Hà’s mother convinces everyone to leave, escaping out of Saigon by boat just as the city falls to the Communists.

Hà and her family are on board the ship for weeks and use the time to practice their English until they reach their final destination, America. Once there, they are sponsored by a Southern farmer named Mr. Johnston, who helps the family to settle in Alabama. Hà ’s mother insists they assimilate into American society as quickly as possible, shutting out their old lives entirely. But this is difficult for Hà to do, for she misses Vietnam greatly.

In Alabama, Hà and her family receive mixed reactions from their new neighbors.

While many, like Mr. Johnston, Miss Washington (a neighbor), and Miss Scott (Hà’s teacher) are friendly and welcoming, others are not. At school, Hà is bulled by a pink -colored boy who takes every chance he can to make fun of Hà. Hà is humiliated, but comforted and watched out for by not only Mr. Johnston, Miss Washington, and Miss Scott, but by her brothers as well. Vu teaches her self-defense, and Hà’s mother tells her that there is always a time when Hà must defend herself. When the pink-colored boy attempts to become physical with Hà , she uses self-defense against him, frightening him into no longer bullying her.

Slowly, all of the neighbors come around and warm up to Hà and her family, and the family begins to feel welcome at last. As the Vietnamese New Year comes around once again, a letter is received from Hà ’s father’s brother, who Hà s no news about Hà ’s father to report. When Hà ’s mother loses her amethyst ring--a gift from her husband years before--she takes it as a sign that he is dead. As a result, the family holds a mourning ceremony for him and vows to move on in America while remembering the past.

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Inside Out & Back Again

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4-6 Activity

FUN FACT: Our Inside Out and Back Again Touring Production will be a 30 minute musical version of the novel written by Thanhha Lai. The characters of the three brothers will be condensed into one character played by one actor.

Also, in our production, specific poems have been adapted into musical numbers, for instance the poems First Rule, Second Rule and Third Rule are all combined to create the lead in to our song A New Word a Day!

After reading the book or book synopsis in class, guide your students through these discussion prompts:

PRE-SHOW CLASSROOM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (K-3):  Who is this story about?  In the story, Hà has to leave her life in Vietnam to move to the United States for safety.

Have you ever had to move before? Did you have to say goodbye to your friends and neighbors? How did that make you feel?  How do you think Hà was feeling at the end of the book? How is that different from what she was feeling at the beginning of the book? What happened to make her feel that way?

PRE-SHOW CLASSROOM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (4-6)  In the book we learn that Hà’s brother enjoys practicing martial arts like Bruce Lee. Do you have an idol you look up to? What is that person known for? Have you tried to pursue any hobbies to emulate them?  Do you speak a different language at home than you do at school? Have you ever had to learn another language? What are some challenges you’ve faced with speaking a different language than someone else?  What were some of the challenges people in Hà’s community faced? What challenges do people in your own community face?

PRE-SHOW WRITING PROMPT In the story, Hà says “No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama." Why do you think she says this? Have you ever felt this way? Write about a time in your life when you’ve felt you would give anything to go back to what was familiar.

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Inside Out & Back Again

CHARACTERS IN OUR STORY ACTOR 1: Hà: 10 year old girl from Vietnam who escapes the fall of Saigon with her family to come to America as a refugee. Her favorite food is papaya.

ACTOR 2: Mother: Hà’s mother, head of the family since Father went missing in the war Cowboy: American who sponsors the Kim family Pink Boy: Boy at American school who bullies Hà Mrs. Washington: A widow and retired teacher who volunteers to tutor Hà’s and her brother

ACTOR 3: Brother: Hà’s older brother. He likes motorcycles and doing martial arts like Bruce Lee Miss Scott: Hà’s American school teacher

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Inside Out & Back Again

4-6 Activity

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thanhha Lai

“If someone is different from you, go stand next to her and observe. That person just brought another world to your door without you having to travel.” -Thanhha Lai

Thannha Lai was born in Vietnam in 1965. She was the youngest of 9 siblings. Just like her character Hà, she fled Saigon with her family in 1975 for the United States where they settled in Montgomery, Alabama. Lai went on to earn a degree in journalism rom the University of Texas at Austin and then an MFA in Writing from New York University. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and daughter and teaches writing at Parsons: New School for Design.

Lai’s first novel was Inside Out and Back Again which won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature as well as a Newberry Honor. Lai claims it took her over 15 years to write Inside Out and Back Again partly due to the fact that it was “shockingly boring” to sit still for hours and hours to write.

Originally the project was to be a long novel spanning over 4000 years of Vietnamese history but she found that the voice did not fit the experience she wanted to convey.

After years of working on that project and the ideas of what she wanted to say already brainstormed, she was able to cut her writing back into the prose poetry that make up Inside Out and Back Again.

Lai describes her ideal reader not as an immigrant girl who is likely to identify closely with Hà’s story, but as “a 10-year old suburban mainstream boy who, although most likely at first wouldn’t connect to her story, or would feel sorry for Hà’s experiences, slowly would move to recognize himself in the girl’s experiences.”

RIGHT IN THE TEXT QUESTIONS 1. Who does Thannha Lai describe as her ideal reader? Why do you think this is?

2. What awards did Inside Out & Back Again receive?

3. How long did it take Thannha Lai to write her first novel?

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Inside Out & Back Again

4-6 Activity

An Interview with Thanhha Lai: (by the DiMenna Children’s History Museum)

DiMenna Children’s History Museum: Your book is dedicated “to the millions of refugees in the world.” Why is a refugee story like this one important for young readers to read today?

Thanhha Lai: When I was writing this novel, a story about refugees did seem like historical fiction. Since publication in 2011, the world has turned so that stories of present-day refugees have become essential to understanding who we are, how we arrived in our home, and what responsibilities we have toward those still searching for a home.

DCHM: How did you decide that Inside Out and Back Again had to be told in verse?

Thanhha Lai: The main character is thinking in Vietnamese, which is a naturally lyrical and melodic language. For years I wrote in long, loopy sentences that did not sound authentic to someone thinking in Vietnamese. Once I came up with prose poems, the voice clicked.

DCHM: In your author’s note at the end of the book, you write that it was very important for you to capture Hà’s emotional life. What did you do to access Hà’s emotions and feelings?

Thanhha Lai: That was the simplest part, as I based Hà’s emotions on my own feelings as a refugee in Alabama.

DCHM: What type of research did you conduct while writing Inside Out and Back Again? Were there any primary sources that helped you fill in some of the details?

Thanhha Lai: The story is autobiographical, so the dates and facts already run in my blood.

DCHM: When Hà and her family arrive in Alabama, her mother tells her and her brothers, “Until you children master English, you must think, do, wish for nothing else. Not your father, not your old home, not your old friends, not our future.” Why did you decide to make this language struggle such a central part of your book?

Thanhha Lai: I don’t think one can appreciate language until it’s taken away. Without being able to be understood, even in the simplest terms, Hà and her family had to regain a sense of themselves. Everything—school, job, house, future—depended on their ability to master this strange new language.

DCHM: What three words would you use to describe Inside Out and Back Again?

Thanhha Lai: Observe, Wait, Balance RIGHT IN THE TEXT QUESTIONS 1. Why did Thanhha Lai chose to write Inside Out and Back Again in verse poetry form?

2. Who is Inside Out and Back Again dedicated to?

BONUS: What does the word autobiographical mean? What does it say about Thanhha Lai’s connection to the story she wrote?

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K-3 Activity

4-6 Activity

THE SCENIC DESIGN of Inside Out and Back Again Catherine Cornell, Book-It’s Arts and Education Program’s scenic designer, has her work cut out for her when creating the sets for the touring stories. She must create something that can fold down small enough to fit in the back of the Book-It van, be easily maneuvered on stage to show multiple locations in the story (like Saigon, a Navy ship, and Alabama), while also communicating the feeling behind the story.

Inspired by the color and shape of Papaya Trees which Hà loved so much, these were the set renderings she created for Inside Out and Back Again!

What do these images tell you about the story? What do you see, notice or feel right away? Do you think this set captures the look and feel of the book? Write your answers in the boxes below:

“Colorful Vietnam”

“The Fall of Saigon” Panels break apart

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K-3 Activity

SELF-TO-TEXT CONNECTIONS: Trying New Things In the story, HĂ and her family are forced to experience all sorts of new things when they come to Alabama. From new foods like fried chicken to learning a new language, they must adjust to many new things as they leave their old comforts back in Vietnam. Think about a time in your own life when you were exposed to something new. How did you react? Were you excited about the change or afraid at first? How did your reaction change with time? Write or draw your reactions to the questions in the boxes below.

A new thing I tried once was...

I felt ______________ about it.

I felt encouraged when‌.

I felt discouraged when...

Someone helped me by...

In the end I...

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K-3 Activty

4-6 Activity

Tết Tet is the Vietnamese New Year which falls on the Lunar New Year. It is usually celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New Year in late January or early February.

Tet traditions include eating special foods, cleaning the house, visiting friends and neighbors, and ancestor worship. Since the Vietnamese believe that the first visitor a family receives in the year determines their fortune for the entire year, people never enter any house on the first day without being invited first. The act of being the first person to enter a house is one of the most important rituals. According to Vietnamese tradition, if good things come to the family on the first day of the lunar New Year, the entire following year will also be full of blessings. Usually, a person of good temper, morality, and success will be the lucky sign for the host family and be invited first into the house. However, just to be safe, the owner of the house will leave the house a few minutes before midnight and come back just as the clock strikes midnight to prevent anyone else entering the house first who might potentially bring any unfortunate events in the new year to the household.

Sweeping during Tet is taboo or xui (unlucky), since it symbolizes sweeping the luck away; that is why they clean before the new year. It is also taboo for anyone who experienced a recent loss of a family member to visit anyone else during Tet. A typical Tet greeting is A Kumquat tree: traditional Tet decoration "Chúc Mừng Năm Mới" or “Happy New Year.”

Houses are decorated with different flower blossoms. The colors red and yellow are considered especially lucky. Older family members will also give younger ones red envelopes with money to encourage prosperity.

Some of the foods eaten at Tet include:

BANH CHUNG/ BANH TET - SQUARE CAKE:

BOILED CHICKEN - THIT GA:

CANDIED FRUITS- MUT:

VIETNAMESE SAUSAGE– GIO CHA and STICKY RICE - XOI:

A Bag Full of Traditions!

What are some traditions you celebrate in your home? Do you eat the same food or decorate the same way every year? In a decorated paper bag, have your students label and fill it with items that represent a specific holiday or event that they traditionally celebrate in their home every year. This can include photos, recipes, decorations, anything that represents them!

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4-6 Activity

THE VIETNAM WAR The Vietnam War was fought between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese and spanned from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. The North Vietnamese, known as the Viet Cong and led by President Ho Chi Minh, were supported by China, The Soviet Union, and other Communist-supporting entities. The South Vietnamese were backed largely by the United States as well as Australia, South Korea, Thailand, and other anti-Communist allies.

US involvement in the war escalated in the early 1960s under President Lyndon B. Johnson in an effort to stymie the growth of Communism around the globe. American presence in Vietnam was not really felt until after the assassination of John F. Kennedy when new President Johnson increased troop numbers drastically. US forces began to take over more of the war from the Vietnamese, a departure from previous foreign policy of leaving the responsibility of warfare to the South Vietnamese soldiers.

On January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong broke the truce that traditionally accompanied the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday by launching the largest battle of the war, the Tet Offensive, in the hope of sparking a national uprising. Over 100 cities were attacked by over 85,000 enemy troops including assaults on the US Embassy in Saigon. Not only did this attack kill over 3,300 US and South Vietnamese troops and 32,000 North Vietnamese, it also had over 14,000 civilian casualties. The Tet Offensive turned the tide of American public opinion toward opposing US involvement in the war. While the South Vietnamese technically won the battle, politically it was a victory for the Viet Cong.

When President Richard Nixon came into office, the US goal became building up the South Vietnamese army so that the conflict could be put back into their hands with limited to no US involvement. This philosophy became known as “Vietnamization.�

Nixon began to withdraw US troops in 1969 but it was a slow-going process. In January 1973 The Paris Peace Accords were signed, which effectively ended US involvement in the war and drew a cease-fire between the North and South Vietnamese during which US troops could withdraw and American prisoners of war were to be released. The Accords promised US troops would return to help should the North Vietnamese army break the agreement at any point.

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4-6 Activity

THE VIETNAM WAR Americans at home opposed having US troops in South Vietnam with increasing intensity over the course of the war and 1970 only around 30% of Americans believed that US involvement was still necessary. Anti-war sentiments were especially strong among the growing counterculture movement and large protests were staged all over the country urging US leaders to immediately pull troops out of Vietnam.

Left to fight mostly on their own, many South Vietnamese panicked as northern troops led an offensive down the country, taking over city by city. US troops did not assist in the amount promised by Nixon in the Paris Peace Accords leaving many South Vietnamese feeling betrayed and abandoned. As it became clear that the Viet Cong’s advance would be too powerful to overthrow, many towns started evacuating as the Northern army approached.

Saigon near the southern coast was one of the last cities to fall. Many people from Da Nang fled further south to Saigon in a last hope to escape Ho Chi Minh’s campaign.

North Vietnamese forces finally reached Saigon on April 30, 1975. The president of South Vietnam surrendered and the North officially gained control leaving the war a loss for South Vietnam and the United States.

American Vietnam War protestors

Map of North Vietnamese advance toward Saigon

Reports range up to 3.8 million total deaths from the Vietnam War including 195,000 to 430,000 South Vietnamese civilians and over 50,000 US soldiers.

Vietnamese refugees crowd aboard the Military Sealift Command ship Pioneer Contender on April 23, 1975 RIGHT IN THE TEXT QUESTIONS 1. How long did the Vietnam War last?

2. What was the largest battle of the war? What year did it occur?

3. What was the name for the process of the US turning the war back over to the control of the Vietnamese?

BONUS: What were some of the ramifications of the Vietnam War? How did it impact Vietnam? The United States?

Inside Out and Back Again begins with Tet, why do you think the author chose to begin her story on this celebration day?

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4-6 Activity

WHAT IS A REFUGEE? After World War II in response to the vast numbers fleeing Eastern Europe, The United Nations defined a refugee as someone "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."

In Inside Out and Back Again we read about Hà’s family becoming refugees in the United States after fleeing the attack on Saigon. Hà was one of 138,000 people who evacuated to the United States after the Fall of Saigon and one of over 2 million who escaped as a refugee in the coming years all the way into the 1990s. Many took dangerous actions to flee including sailing on fishing boats not designed for the open ocean.

Today there are over 65.6 million people around the world have been forced from home by conflict and persecution. Among them are nearly 22.5 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also 10 million stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.

“Vietnamese Boat People” waiting for rescue

Infographic courtesy of the United Nations RIGHT IN THE TEXT QUESTIONS 1. Today where do most of the world’s refugees come from?

2. Which countries host most of the world’s refugees?

3. How many people fled Vietnam for the United States after the fall of Saigon?

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K-3 Activity

BUILD A PAPAYA TREE In the story, one of Hà’s most valued possessions is her papaya tree. When her family flees Vietnam she is forced to take only the bare essentials, leaving behind everything else– Including her precious tree. As a class, discuss what your most valued belongings are and what they represent about you. Students will then represent their treasures on their own papayas and add them all to a collective class tree.

Students can also cut out papaya leaves to help make the tree.

Instructions: 1. Draw or write about your most treasured possession in the papaya fruit outline.

2. Cut out your papaya fruit.

3. Add it to the class papaya tree.

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K-3 Activity

WHAT WOULD YOU PACK? In the story, HĂ and her family must pack only the essentials for their long journey to America and is outlined in the poem Choice Into each pack: One pair of pants, One pair of shorts, Three pairs of underwear, Two shirts, Sandals, Toothbrush and paste, Soap, Ten palms of rice grains, Three clumps of cooked rice, One choice.

As the poem continues, we learn that HĂ chooses to bring her doll. As a class, discuss what items your students might bring with them if they had to leave their home behind and what their one choice item would be. Have them draw the items or make a list in the suitcase below:

LIST ITEMS: ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

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K-3 Activity

TYPES OF POETRY In Inside Out and Back Again, author Thanhha Lai uses poetry in a journal form to express Ha’s thoughts as she leaves Vietnam and comes to the United States as a refugee. Read about different types of poetry on this page. Which one most closely resembles the style Thanhha Lai uses in Inside Out and Back Again?

Limerick: a light hearted sometimes

nonsensical poem. It often feels musical when read aloud. It consists of 5 lines.

Lines 1,2, and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. Lines 1,2, and 5 should have 7-10 syllables while lines 3 and 4 should have 5-7 syllables.

Acrostic Poetry: the first letters of each line spell a word. Each lines consists of a word or phrase relating to the word that’s spelled vertically.

Example (by Edward Lear):

Example:

There was an old man with a beard Who said, “It is just as I feared, Two owls and a hen A lark and a wren Have all built their nests in my beard!”

Relaxing Exciting Adventure Discovery

Sonnet: this type of poem, made famous by William

Shakespeare, has 14 lines that consist of 3 quatrains (4 lines) and a rhyming couplet (2 lines)at the end. The rhyming scheme is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg (Italian poets used abba cddc effe gg)

Haiku: a Japanese style of poem

Example (Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18):

Example:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Books are amazing They take me to new places Allow me to dream

Now it’s your turn! Try writing a poem in each style.

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consisting of 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third has 5 again.

Free Verse: has no rhyme or

meter requirements to it. There are no rules!

4-6 Activity

4-6 Activity

WRITING POETRY In her book, Thanhha Lai provides tips for writing poetry. Read her tips below and use them to write your own free verse poem in the box below.

Writing Poetry: Tips from Thanhaa Lai 1. Use as few words as possible. First, write down your line. Then ut one word at a time while asking yourself, Has the meaning changed? If not, keep cutting. You want the syrup without any sap.

2. Conjure up fresh, concise images. Surprise the readers whenever possible. For example instead of, “He killed the chicken,” write: “A red line appeared across the hen’s neck.”

3. Say it without actually saying it. When conveying emotions, instead of outright saying, “She’s sad (or happy),” employ an image or detail that reveals the character. Instead of: “She’s sad he cut down her biggest papaya.” Try: “Black seeds spill/ like clusters of eyes/ wet and crying.”

Write your own free verse poem here:

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Inside Out and Back Again Study Guide Sources: https://www.vietnamonline.com/tet/food-for-tet-holidays.html http://www.lafairy-sails.com/en/blog/all-about-traditions-of-tet-the-vietnamese-lunar-newyear.htm https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/vietnam-war/vietnamese-boat-people/ https://borgenproject.org/vietnam-war-and-vietnamese-refugees/ http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/refugees/ https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/forced-flee-top-5-countries-refugees http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2014/11/19/forced-to-flee-burma-refugees-inseattle/30703 https://www.slj.com/2012/01/interviews/the-inside-story-thanhha-lai/ Scenic renderings provided by Catherine Cornell For more info visit: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/education/2015/10/8-educational-resources-to-betterunderstand-the-refugee-crisis/ https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/forced-flee-top-5-countries-refugees

Book-It Repertory Theatre would like to thank the following Norcliffe Foundation

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