As Dara watches families flee around her, she realizes, “So that was what it meant to be a refugee. We were farmers who had been displaced from our old land and yet prevented from settling on any new land. Would we always be on the move, people who not only didn’t have a home but weren’t allowed to build a new home anywhere?” (Chapter 7)

Compare and contrast Dara’s interpretation of the term with the official definition presented in the Personal Connection Prompt. In which ways does Dara’s interpretation make the subject more personal? Explain your answer. 

Teaching Suggestion: This Discussion/Analysis Prompt invites students to contextualize their responses from the Personal Connection Prompt to the novel. Students should understand that the UNHCR’s definition serves as a legal mechanism for signatory states of international refugee law, while Dara’s observation offers the more personal reality of the refugees’ situation. This is an important distinction for students to explore because it shows the disconnect between governmental and personal understandings of displacement.

It could be helpful to create Venn diagram as a whole class and brainstorm similarities and differences between the two definitions before students write independently.