american refugee Flashcards
first question set final
What do we know about the other characters and their families (Blaise, Cheps, Marwa, and Ali) who are introduced in Chapter 2?
Blaise- born in Burundi in 1988, but his ID says he was born 4 years earlier. He was born into a family of 5 or 6, he isn’t fully sure of one brother. Blaise is the youngest. His oldest sister died when he was nine, and his next sister Flavia raised him and was his second mother. His mother died at age 36 when he was 6 and his father at 39 when he was 7, both of diseases. His parents were mixed. His mom was Burundian and Rwandan, and his father was Burundian and Congolese. His mother, Maria, tolerated a lot, like his father’s concubine, whom he one day abandoned, refusing to pay her rent or send her money or food. They had a child together. His mother brought her, also named Maria, and her child into the house. The father didn’t want them there, but his mother insisted. She took care of them and took care of her children when she died. She was a Sunday school teacher and a singer and songwriter in the choir. She was very Christian, and his father wasn’t as much. Blaise was an orphan child living with his uncles in the Congo after his parents’ death. He was treated badly and became angry and fought with everyone. He returned from Congo to Burundi and became a worship leader of a congregation at his mother’s Church. He grew the congregation up. He later moved to the US.
Cheps- Born in Uganda in 1990. his mother died when he was 5 years old. his father had other women, two or three perhaps. His grandmother raised him in her small house. She was a great woman, and life was good with her. She told him stories and prose poems of lessons to build up his life. He was 13 when his grandmother passed away. she missed his circumcision ceremony, but she made him resilient enough for the right of passage. Being able to withstand this pain shows the community and the boy himself that he will succeed in life. After the rite of passage, the boys ask their fathers for land. Chep’s father gave him a piece of land, and now he’s building a house with the little money he sends back on this very land in Uganda for his soul that he left behind. He is no longer welcome back or considered a real man by the community.
Marwa- She was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1986. She was very quiet. Her mother worked, and her father was in and out of work and stayed home more often. her memories are mostly of her maternal grandparents’ house. her grandmother raised her, and they were very close. Marwa’s wedding day was close to when a relative died, and her grandmother insisted it should be postponed because it was too close to mourning, but the rest of the family insisted on moving forward with the wedding, so her grandmother refused to attend. It was very upsetting for Marwa, but her grandmother’s anger didn’t last long. She came to visit her when she heard that Marwa was pregnant. The day before her death, her grandma asked for Marwa, but she couldn’t find someone to drive her there, so she missed her grandmother’s last day. Her grandfather was a world traveler and kept things from his many travels. He was a farmer who loved animals. They had 3 sons, all raised in Baghdad, the city raised elegantly. The girls were villagers raised in tattered clothing. Grandpa died when she was 12. Everyone loved the grandpa, including the grandma, but it broke her heart to have her sons raised away from her. Marwa’s dad sold his wife’s sewing machine instead of making it up to her after making a mistake.
Ali- born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1971. He was the second of six children, two boys and four girls. he was super close with his neighbor and would play with her every day. he was broken-hearted when she got married to someone else. His youngest aunt, Ibtisam, lived with them and was raised by Ali’s father, her brother. His mother memorized and sang him many songs, and he transcribed all of them so they couldn’t be forgotten when she dies. He enjoyed playing like most kids.
What do we know about Abdo’s parents and grandparents (What were their names? Where did they live and travel to over the course of their lives?)
Grandma’s name is Sabha. She was displaced from her hometown in the suburbs of Jerusalem in 1967. She was illiterate and came from a family of peasants. Married the grandfather who was ambitious, and she accompanied him when he became a teacher in the villages of Palestine. He left her to pursue graduate degrees and teaching opportunities and had many wives after Sabha. She never remarried and died in 2008. They had two children, a boy and a girl.
The daughter is Abdo’s mother, named Afaf. She was 12 when they crossed the border to Jordan. Born in Jerusalem in 1954 and left Palestine in 1967. She visited Palestine in 2019 on her American passport and stayed for 40 days. She visited all the sites holy to her. She visited the houses of many of her family members and reminisced on her time with them.
Identify some specific passages (turns of phrase, images, stylistic techniques such as repetition) that you find particularly evocative or puzzling.
When Afaf (Abdo’s mom) was traveling around Palestine, she told stories of all the different family members she visited. She used techniques like imagery to bring these stories and, with them, people to life.
Many refugees are given the birthday of January 1st when their birth certificates are incomplete or not available, even though they know their actual birthdays.
When you are living a language, it is easy to catch, not like an infection but like a strong wind in your open sails.
Cheps tells stories his grandmother told him and explains the messages she meant for him to gain from them
poetic language
use of untranslated Arabic- definition of “campus”= “sanctuary”
incorporation of songs/poetry
Repetition (she knocked on the door…)
Literariness facilitates complexity
Incorporating difficulty
Relationship of connection and distance
Abdo uses many Arabic words, or Arabic words that are translated in an unusual way (e.g. “westing,” or “tightening for travel.” How do these techniques affect you as a reader? What do they communicate to you?
These words connect readers to the characters and their culture. It shows both the similarities and differences in their lives and culture and ours.
