We Are All We Have Abridged Curriculum Guide, 9-12

• Have students create a poem for two voices to examine a changing relationship between two characters and each character’s point of view.

1. Share examples of poems for two voices, such as the examples on Laura Purdie Salas’ blog: https://laurasalas.com/writing-for-children/poems-for-two-voices/

1. Locate a moment in the text that reveals a relationship change. For example, when Rania says, “I thought Fatima and I were the same.” (215). In this case, students would compare and contrast the points of view of Fa-Fa and Ra-Ra in their poem for two voices.

1. Challenge students to work in small groups to find an impactful way to show, through visual art, music, movement, storytelling, poetry, or drama, the concepts of disappearing vs. appearing or restoring and moving from one to the other.

1. Have them incorporate the idea of a whole story and parts of a story.

1. Invite students to explore a key concept in this section through blackout poetry.

1. Begin by sharing examples from sources such as this blog by NCTE: https://ncte.org/blog/2019/04/blackout-poetry/

1. Encourage students to choose a concept from the section such as: memories flooding back out of a locked past; feelings of loss; coping with trauma through sketching; the idea of a “stolen” youth and restoring youth for children; the idea of play and childhood; feeling understood and comforted; people advocating for others, or kindness. Be sure to invite students to choose an idea of their own.

1. Create a hands-on demonstration of Rania’s roles and responsibilities:

1. Explore the responsibilities involved in each of Rania’s roles since Ammi’s detention and how she must negotiate young adulthood with adult roles.

1. Have students brainstorm a list of all of the things that Rania juggles.

1. Write each responsibility on a separate object (You might use balloons, small boxes, small plastic bags of beans or other objects).

1. Ask for a volunteer to play the role of Rania, or play the role your self.

1. Give each student one of the items labeled with a responsibility.

1. One by one, students read the responsibility and hand the object to the person in the role of Rania, creating a visual demonstration of the gravity of responsibilities. It will be challenging for Rania to hold onto the many objects and some will slide away. A metaphor for having to give up parts of her teenage life.

1. Invite students to explore the concept of running, flight and fleeing (ex. 86; 101), by creating a mixed media assemblage of a suitcase that includes tangible objects in addition to representations of intangible ideas.

1. As they flee, what do they take? What do they leave behind? What is lost? What is gained?

1. Ask students to perform a key excerpt from the text as a dramatic monologue (a short scene in which one character speaks to an audience in a heartfelt or passionate way).

1. Students choose an excerpt that shows a character working through an internal conflict; expressing desires and dreams; or a moment of turning point.

1. Invite them to take on the perspective of the character by reading/performing the passage. Some students might wish to read the words in the passage precisely as they appear, whereas others might enjoy recreating the passage in their own words or starting from scratch and writing their own monologue from the point of view of the character.

1. A sample of powerful passages in this section to perform include the following:

1. Rania imagining the moment of high school graduation–reflecting on the hardships to get there; the significance of event; and revealing relationship with Ammi (51-52).

1. Rania grappling with the question: Is America beautiful and welcoming? (32, 33)

1. Have students use a digital tool such as Audacity to record and practice. Encourage them to adapt their tone for meaning and effect.

1. For more informational on monologues, visit: https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/blog/article/reading-with-purpose-monologues/

1. Invite students to work in small groups and embody the meaning of a developing theme through tableau, or a frozen statue.

1. Have groups determine a developing theme. They might infer themes such as freedom; protection; identity; hidden truth; survival; identity; trust; safety; disappearing and appearing; family; sense of belonging and more.

1. Each group creates a tableau, placing their bodies as frozen statues to represent the concept (in a symbolic way rather than literally acting it out).

1. Groups might consider having one or more students read a key passage that illustrates the theme while they perform the tableau, or add music that enhances the theme.

1. As the group performs, invite the rest of the class (the audience) to brainstorm words or phrases that come to mind while viewing the tableaux.

1. For more information on tableaux, view videos at BRAINworks: https://www.brainworks.mcla.edu/curriculum-center or on the Alliance Theatre Institute’s virtual resources for teachers.

1. Students might instead decide to represent an important scene that reveals theme. In that case, students become characters, frozen in the action of a scene.

1. Learn about Marina Budhos and the historical context for the story by visiting her website: https://marinabudhos.com and sampling from the featured interviews on We Are All We Have.

• Discuss: What is important to Marina Budhos?

1. What does the author speak up for? How is she an activist?

1. Listen to the ghazals/songs and consider their impact and meaning to the story.

1. What is the historical context for the story?

1. 1. Invite students to explore Spoken Word Poetry and perform Rania and Fatima’s version of On the Road by Jack Kerouac (10); Disappeared (216); or turn another moment in the text into spoken word poetry.

Begin by sharing and discussing videos of Spoken Word Poetry from collections such as Project V.O.I.C.E. (http://www.projectvoice.com/)

1. Have students create a poem for two voices to examine a changing relationship between two characters and each character’s point of view.

• Share examples of poems for two voices, such as the examples on Laura Purdie Salas’ blog: https://laurasalas.com/writing-for-children/poems-for-two-voices/
• Locate a moment in the text that reveals a relationship change. For example, when Rania says, “I thought Fatima and I were the same.” (215). In this case, students would compare and contrast the points of view of Fa-Fa and Ra-Ra in their poem for two voices.

2. Challenge students to work in small groups to find an impactful way to show, through visual art, music, movement, storytelling, poetry, or drama, the concepts of disappearing vs. appearing or restoring and moving from one to the other.

• Have them incorporate the idea of a whole story and parts of a story.

3. Invite students to explore a key concept in this section through blackout poetry.

• Begin by sharing examples from sources such as this blog by NCTE: https://ncte.org/blog/2019/04/blackout-poetry/
• Encourage students to choose a concept from the section such as: memories flooding back out of a locked past; feelings of loss; coping with trauma through sketching; the idea of a “stolen” youth and restoring youth for children; the idea of play and childhood; feeling understood and comforted; people advocating for others, or kindness. Be sure to invite students to choose an idea of their own.

4. Create a hands-on demonstration of Rania’s roles and responsibilities:

• Explore the responsibilities involved in each of Rania’s roles since Ammi’s detention and how she must negotiate young adulthood with adult roles.
• Have students brainstorm a list of all of the things that Rania juggles.
• Write each responsibility on a separate object (You might use balloons, small boxes, small plastic bags of beans or other objects).
• Ask for a volunteer to play the role of Rania, or play the role your self.
• Give each student one of the items labeled with a responsibility.
• One by one, students read the responsibility and hand the object to the person in the role of Rania, creating a visual demonstration of the gravity of responsibilities. It will be challenging for Rania to hold onto the many objects and some will slide away. A metaphor for having to give up parts of her teenage life.

• Invite students to explore the concept of running, flight and fleeing (ex. 86; 101), by creating a mixed media assemblage of a suitcase that includes tangible objects in addition to representations of intangible ideas.
• As they flee, what do they take? What do they leave behind? What is lost? What is gained?

6. Ask students to perform a key excerpt from the text as a dramatic monologue (a short scene in which one character speaks to an audience in a heartfelt or passionate way).

• Students choose an excerpt that shows a character working through an internal conflict; expressing desires and dreams; or a moment of turning point.
• Invite them to take on the perspective of the character by reading/performing the passage. Some students might wish to read the words in the passage precisely as they appear, whereas others might enjoy recreating the passage in their own words or starting from scratch and writing their own monologue from the point of view of the character.
• A sample of powerful passages in this section to perform include the following:
  • Rania imagining the moment of high school graduation–reflecting on the hardships to get there; the significance of event; and revealing relationship with Ammi (51-52).
  • Rania grappling with the question: Is America beautiful and welcoming? (32, 33)
• Have students use a digital tool such as Audacity to record and practice. Encourage them to adapt their tone for meaning and effect.
• For more informational on monologues, visit: https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/blog/article/reading-with-purpose-monologues/

7. Invite students to work in small groups and embody the meaning of a developing theme through tableau, or a frozen statue.

• Have groups determine a developing theme. They might infer themes such as freedom; protection; identity; hidden truth; survival; identity; trust; safety; disappearing and appearing; family; sense of belonging and more.
• Each group creates a tableau, placing their bodies as frozen statues to represent the concept (in a symbolic way rather than literally acting it out).
• Groups might consider having one or more students read a key passage that illustrates the theme while they perform the tableau, or add music that enhances the theme.
• As the group performs, invite the rest of the class (the audience) to brainstorm words or phrases that come to mind while viewing the tableaux.
• For more information on tableaux, view videos at BRAINworks: https://www.brainworks.mcla.edu/curriculum-center or on the Alliance Theatre Institute’s virtual resources for teachers.
• Students might instead decide to represent an important scene that reveals theme. In that case, students become characters, frozen in the action of a scene.

8. Learn about Marina Budhos and the historical context for the story by visiting her website: https://marinabudhos.com and sampling from the featured interviews on We Are All We Have.

• Discuss: What is important to Marina Budhos?
• What does the author speak up for? How is she an activist?
• Listen to the ghazals/songs and consider their impact and meaning to the story.
• What is the historical context for the story?

9. Invite students to explore Spoken Word Poetry and perform Rania and Fatima’s version of On the Road by Jack Kerouac (10); Disappeared (216); or turn another moment in the text into spoken word poetry.

Begin by sharing and discussing videos of Spoken Word Poetry from collections such as Project V.O.I.C.E. (http://www.projectvoice.co/

1. How does Rania grow and change over the course of the story? What experiences and people impact her growth? Choose two key scenes that illustrate Rania’s character development. Explore her internal conflict and her external conflict with larger, societal forces. Has Rania restored all the parts of her whole self, or is she still searching?
2. Choose a relationship between two characters in the story (ex. Rania and her mother; Rania and Fatima; Rania and Kamal; Rania and Carlos; Ammi and Kamal; Kamal and Carlos; Lidia and Rania). Explore the development of the relationship over the course of the novel. Consider the complexities of the relationship and how the relationship advances the plot.
3. Analyze references to disappearing and appearing throughout the text. What is the impact of having only parts of one’s life story? How do characters begin to restore their full selves throughout the book?
4. Choose a symbol in the text and analyze its meaning.
5. Explore the idea of items and memories kept tight in locked boxes, both figuratively and literally. What physical items are in boxes and suitcases? How and when do memories of the past emerge?
6. Determine a theme and analyze its development over the course of the book. Include references to passages and quotations that illustrate this theme. Examples include: protection; identify; family; trust; sense of belonging; survival; freedom, hope and more.
7. Consider the lived experiences of asylum seekers and undocumented teens in the text. What do Rania, her family, Carlos, and other characters experience? What instances in the book encourage readers to consider concepts of luck, fairness, just, unjust, and rights as they relate to the landscape of immigration.
8. Why do you think the author chose the title? What is the meaning conveyed? Consider specific references to the title in the text.
9. What is hidden throughout the story and why? Consider objects, emotions, secrets, stories, the past, memories, people, or parts of the truth. Locate references to hiding, secrets, or lies, and explain the significance. Do these instances protect or hurt characters? How? Do you agree with Ammi’s approach to protecting Kamal and Rania by not telling them the full truth and/or lying at times? Why or why not?
10. Choose another text (another YA novel, picture book, poem or other) with the topic of asylum or undocumented teens. Analyze the similarities and differences in how the authors approach the storyline, themes, and background knowledge?
11. How do the arts create community, identity and amplify marginalized voices? Consider Rania’s poetry; ghazals/songs; Carlos’ visual art and more. How do the arts make visible the invisible?
12. When does the author draw from, or transform, material from other literacy works? (Peter Pan quotation in preface); Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (10); Taming of the Shrew (120); the tale of the fisherman (200); Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (233); George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss (231) and more. How does each reference amplify meaning in the text? Consider instances of how characters create inclusion by inscribing themselves into literary traditions and landscapes.

Note: Be sure to give students the option of designing their own essay question. For example, students might be interested in analyzing how the author draws from paintings in the book.

1. What background information is important for readers to know?

On one level, readers should be able to read We Are All We Have and just be swept along—as Rania is—in this journey of self-discovery, flight, and safety.  And yet there are many other layers that are at work in the story: the backdrop of 2019, when there was a zero tolerance policy toward immigrants and refugees, igniting ICE raids in our country; the families who were separated at the border; the political situation in Pakistan and the repression and violence against journalists, particularly in the years when Abu was reporting; and finally the complicated layers of the immigration system and what it means to be a political asylum seeker.

2. In your experience, what is the power of storytelling?

In the case of a novel such as We Are All We Have, a story—a fictional story—can bring a distant headline close to us, as readers.  We see, feel, and hear these experiences as if the are our own; we root for and sometimes get annoyed at our main characters; we are moved and perplexed by their choices, or, their lack of choice.  And we want to know—more—about how this story can ever be resolved, if it can be.  Storytelling, in other words, structures and speaks to our emotions, reminding of us of our own humanity.  At the same time, it allows us to step into the imagined experiences of others.  Storytelling, at its best, is our greatest human and global connector.