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24/02/2026 11:56 am
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. One way that Tran finds ways to carve out his place is to read, not just to improve his vocabulary, but so he can have the same cultural references as the typical white guy, using Clifton Fadiman’s The Lifetime Reading Plan as a guide.
Early in the story, Tran talks about his family’s relocation to the United States after fleeing Vietnam. After being bounced between multiple camps and multiple countries, they finally started to settle in Pennsylvania, “We needed to blend, adopt our new country as it had adopted us. My parents were navigating all the straits and inlets of living in America, holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, driving in the snow, the difference between ketchup and catsup.” (Tran 20).
Based on this idea and the ideas from your book, how quickly are immigrants pressured to assimilate? What aspects of culture do they need to assimilate too early, and what aspects can be avoided or pushed until later?
For participants:
-Never use a peer’s real name, only use their username
-Respond to the question based on your book, not your personal opinion
-If the question doesn’t directly apply to something that appears in your book, be clear about what you’re seeing instead
-Make sure to include a summary of your book so far
-Include a quote with the proper citation to give context to your answer
-Acknowledge your lead’s reply to your response with a comment that clarifies information, offer a question to them about their book, or simply give a thumbs up
To exceed: Incorporate a quote from a different Ted Talk or a different CommonLit text that has not yet been discussed in your group
This topic was modified 2 weeks ago by jennifer.chick@rsu4.org
26/02/2026 11:28 pm
In my book Black Enough Edited by Ibi Zoboi the story Black Enough by Varian Johnson. The main character Cam wears specific clothes along with altering the way he speaks in an attempt to affiliate himself with others through replication, showing the aspects targeted when assimilating into a culture. “He acknowledged a few kids as they passed by a head nod to a group of Black dudes, and a more subdued hand wave to a group of white kids.”
02/03/2026 12:56 pm
In my book Americanized by Sara Saedi she comes to America and starts going to high school. She has a crush on a boy in her class. They sit together in English class and she fantasizes they will be together. She never expected him to make a comment about her in class. From the book, “Here’s what I never imagined Gideon doing in those fantasies: snickering at me in class and declaring, “You only have ONE eyebrow.”’ (Saedi 43) She never thought that she had a unibrow before. This was something that was a feature from her culture that she didn’t think was noticeable. This comment made her want to immediately pluck the hairs. Her mom doesn’t want her to pluck her eyebrows so early and wanted her to wait until she was 15.
05/03/2026 10:54 am
In my book "Indivisible" by Daniel Aleman the main character Mateo Garcia doesn’t deal with any pressure to immigrate, because he was born in America, but his mother dealt with depression when she heard her mother passed away after not seeing her for decades. Mateo had to assimilate fast after his parents were detained by ICE, because he had to take care of the apartment, the business, schooling, and his little sister all by himself at the age of 16. “I’m just starting to realize how much I’ll have to do now that Ma and Pa are gone.” (Aleman 70).
06/03/2026 11:52 am
in my book "a land of permanent goodbyes" by Atia Abawi the main character Tareq and his family escape war torn Syria and attempt to go to Germany for safety after his father and brother are killed by bombs in Aleppo. Tareq, his pregnant mother, and sister are forced to leave there home, they begin a dangerous journey across several countries hoping to reach Germany. they face hunger, fear, and the constant risk of losing each other. "But unfortunately, it was the decisions made by those in their country—and those outside Syria—that brought them to this night." (Abawi 9)
06/03/2026 2:41 pm
I often see the same thing in my book of trying to culturally fit in PG-6: "you go FULL PUNK. get the leather jacket. shave part of your head. wear ripped flannel. bleach your hair.
06/03/2026 2:55 pm
I see him in my book also wanting to be different in my book Alemont27 he more often tried to not change himself but hide himself PG-7:"I'll tell you that at some points in my life, I wanted to be white. its not a proud feeling, but its not a feeling that comes from the shame of being brown. its a tired feeling. tired of crushing racism."
