Perspective Discussion #1 - TheUtmostTrouble Forum

1. Group G---ccamire27 (Replacement A)

jennifer.chick@rsu4.org — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:58:18 +0000

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

1. Group F---hmcfarlane27 (Replacement A)

jennifer.chick@rsu4.org — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:56:49 +0000

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

1. Group E---swood27 (Replacement A)

jennifer.chick@rsu4.org — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:55:30 +0000

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 to 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

1. Group A ---gpoulin27 (Replacement A)

jennifer.chick@rsu4.org — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:53:25 +0000

A: 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.

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

1. Group B---tsmith27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:20:49 +0000

The Ted Talk called “Grammer, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” by Phuc Tran is about people with the indicative are happier because they are pretty straight forward, but people with subjunctive are more confused. “...were all scheduled to board a bus. And as that bus was loading passengers, I began crying, shrieking uncontrollably, so much that my entire family decided to wait for the next bus.” (Tran). In the book The Sun is Always a Star by Nicola Yoon, it goes back and forth between a young man named Daniel and a young woman named Natasha. Daniel is an Asian man who is being pushed into going to school and being a doctor, and Natasha is an African girl living in America, but she is being deported back to Africa. “But you only give two shits?’ ‘Maybe half a shit,’ I say laughing. ‘So your parents are making you do it?’” (Yoon 97).

Does the character in your book have control over their lives and decisions? What decisions to they make for themselves that are unique to who they are? If they do not make their own decisions, who is in control of their lives and what do they control?

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

1. Group F---alemont27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:16:58 +0000

The story “Danger of a Single Story” discusses how stereotypes and knowing people for one thing affects how you see them. This story talks about how she knew a family only for being poor. She had one single story for them and that was that they were poor. She was surprised one day by the fact one of the boys made a beautiful basket. She said “ I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. “ (Adichie) This shows how she had not thought this family could make things because she had only seen them as poor.

The novel Americanized by Sara Saedi is a book about a girl named Sara who was forced to move to America when Khomeini came to power and put in strict rules that became unsafe. After escaping and making it to the U.S. she lived at her uncle's house. Her sister struggled to get a job without a social security card and they learned their green card applications were lost.

The Danger of a Single Story relates to my book Americanized because Sara faces some people thinking her parents are stereotypical Persian parents. She doesnt think they are and are only 25% traditional. She says, “My mom and dad defied (most of) the stereotypes regularly associated with Persian parents” (Saedi 55). She faces having parents who arent like stereotypes even though people at school may think they are just like how in Ted Talk the speaker thinks the family is poor and can’t do anything. The speaker said, “All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor” (Adichie). They both face the stereotypes people have from people based off single stories.

Does your character deal with the stereotypes of where they are from? If they don't, do they have stereotypes of people in America?

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

1. Group E---jboisvert27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:11:53 +0000

The connection the story Sweet, Difficult Sounds by I.M. Desta and Brighter than the Sun by Daniel Aleman is two very hard working girls who are persistent on getting what they want. In both stories Sol and Nothukula struggle with fitting in and adjusting to what their “new life” has come of. Both stories include sayings in their own home language encouraging them to be the great woman their family can see. Both women in these two stories mainly show the idea of strength from the indigenous when they start fresh and try new things, it gives an insight on how they feel with the new and very big decisions. In the story, Nothukula finds her comfort person that gives her the confidence to speak freely and say the words that Americans say so smoothly, In Brighter than the Sun, Sol finds her best friend that helps her along the way through her harsh move from her home to her friends home to supply and support her family. “All these eyes staring at you. Except they're not really there. They're not really staring at you. Practice your poetry with this in mind. Keep reminding yourself as you speak and soon it won't matter if they are really there or not.” (I.M. Desta 67) “After i finish eating, i thank Nancy and Ari a million times for saving me food and sitting at the table with me, while they insist it’s great to have me here.” (Aleman 58)

What difficulties does your character face? Do they have support from others during these difficulties? Does having the support of others (family, friends, etc) help them overcome their difficulties?

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

1. Group B---iraftice27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:51:28 +0000

Sweet, Difficult Sounds by I.M. Desta is about a young girl moving to the U.S. from Zimbabwe, she initially struggles with anxiety about this new school, this new country, it was a whirlwind of new things, from the language and slang “like, like, like” and how people just spoke so fluently and perfectly. She knew English but it was a struggle for her to want to speak in general because of her accent. She had to recite a poem. She knew it by heart but as soon as she started to speak she felt others were laughing at her. She goes home and tells her auntie that she doesn't want to go back to school even after the first day. She struggles but then her aunt suggests a solution. It didn’t work for the moment, but then she remembers her aunt saying “Do what works for you.” So she starts to focus on a boy she had a bit of a crush on. His name is Cole, and she manages to finish her poem, and she ends up feeling better after that, feeling like maybe speaking is a bit easier than she initially thought.

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carlson is a book following a 15 year old girl, Laila, and her life as she moves to the U.S. from her war ridden middle-eastern home after her fathers death. She finds it hard to become accustomed to her new life as many would. She feels like an outsider despite the kindness she gets from a girl named “Emmy” a girl she considers a friend despite how hard she tried not to. Struggling with grasping the idea that her father wasn’t the man she had thought he was, even with all this turmoil going through her, she's trying her hardest to blend in. However her mother is plotting with CIA officers as we learn from the strange man on the side of the road across from their apartment, having to make a deal with another family or they would get sent to their homeland where it wasn’t safe for them. Laila feels like she is having to pick a side between the American life she's been forced into, or trying to find that familiarity in her life.

The connection between “Sweet, Difficult Sounds" by I.M. Desta and “The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carlson, is how both characters feel disconnected from home, how they both feel like they are out of place, standing there as an outsider. "Nothukula started over, but this time she tried to imitate the high-pitched, breathless pace of Ashley and her crew, saying the word ‘bird’ in the same off-handed way they did with the word ’like.’” (Desta). This shows Nothukula's initial weariness in her new school and country. We can connect this to The Tyrants Daughter, “I know that, here, she is perfectly normal. My new normal. I am the one who has to change. To transform, like my mother on that airplane ride” (Carlson). It connects the fact they both feel the need to change in one way or another to adapt to their new life in the U.S. Both characters are moving to the U.S, coming from different backgrounds but facing the same roadblocks to try and fit in and adapt to their new homes, struggling with language and the customs that the U.S has.

How does your character change or adapt to their new life? What changes do they make to themselves to try and fit in?

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

1. Group B--mpetersen27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:31:52 +0000

In the Ted Talk “Grammer, Identity, and the dark side of the subjunctive.” by Phuc Tran, we learn about a man who had to learn the idea of subjunctives and what world or curiosities they open up. He tries explaining what opportunities this opens up to his parents, but they keep bringing up the idea why talk about what didn’t happen? Growing up his family had to flee their home and for his father there was no what if’s, just what did happen and what did not happen. When Phu decided to take half a year's leave once his daughter was born his father flipped out, he couldn't comprehend the thought that he was taking leave all he heard was “I quit my job and won't be teaching next year”. He has realised while growing up with subjunctives that the people who don't get to learn this miss the opportunities to be creative.

In the book, “Breathe and Count Back From Ten” by Natalia Sylvester we learn about a girl named Veronica who has had a terrible medical history, she struggles with self confidence and her parents don’t trust her with anything. They have always pushed her to be the best, and the smartest for their dreams of what she should be doing. By pushing her for their goals they are taking away the dreams of what she actually loves and strives to do. Her body has been through many battles and she has scars all down her hip and thigh that she tries her best to hide, but with her passion for swimming it's nearly impossible to hide it from anyone including her new neighbor who she is starting to befriend. Her parents will not trust her with boys after what happened the last time, but what they don’t understand is it was never her fault. Although if she tries to tell them that it will only get shut down there is no maybes with them only facts and what they saw or at least think they saw was a fact not a chance of changing their mind.

In the ted talk he speaks about how in Vietnam there are no what ifs or maybes and it was a lot to try to understand or learn in America. In my novel her parents are just like this. They don’t understand the idea of maybe it wasn’t what they thought, it only could be what they believed was happening. “Don’t start, Veronica. I didn’t come here to be lied to. You think I was born yesterday? Piensalo bein next time. Think about what you're doing to your family when you act like that. In public, in private. You can ruin your life and ours, and for what?”It's not like that” I say. “I know what I saw, hija.” But he doesn't. He doesn't know anything.” (Sylvester 108). This is showing how her parents don’t have the idea of what if and don’t even have the ability to try to think maybe she wouldn't do that. Similarly in Phu Tran's narrative his parents don’t understand subjunctives, they just know what has or has not happened. Always black and white, “What he knew was just the facts that I had a job and that I was not going to have a job”(Phu Tran) This is showing the similarity between them, it can only be what the obvious answer is, nothing hidden.

Does a character in your book struggle with the idea of what if? If so, how do they deal with that?

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

1. Group C---dodonell27

cstubbs10 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:09:28 +0000

In the Ted Talk “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive”, speaker Phuc Tan talks about living as a Vietnamese immigrant in the United States and how using the subjunctive mood had both positively and negatively affected his life. One of the things he mentions in his talk is appearance and struggling to fit in with his family, “I didn’t look like any of my friends and my family, full of brown immigrants and exotic smells” (8:20-25 Tan). The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz features different stories from three family members, a son, his older sister, and their mother. The book goes over different parts in their lives and how they all struggled with their family and culture. The son and main character, Oscar, experiences problems with his unattractive appearance and how it clashes with his family, who are considered good-looking, “The next day at breakfast he asked his mother: Am I ugly? She sighed. Well, hijo, you certainly don’t take after me” (Díaz 30).

Does a character in your book know they’re different from those around them? How do they deal with this?

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