We Are Displaced

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What nickname has the Swat Valley of Pakistan earned due to its dense forests and beautiful mountains?

2. In what year did the Taliban order schools for girls in the Swat Valley to close?

3. How did Yousafzai feel as a child about the Taliban’s wish to block education for girls?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe how the Taliban’s violence and intimidation impacted Yousafzai’s childhood and family.

2. During her family’s three-day journey away from their home, what did Yousafzai want to stop doing more than anything else?

Paired Resource

“Shall I Feed My Daughter, Or Educate Her?”

• This article discusses women’s and girls’ education in Pakistan.
• The information in this article connects to the text’s theme of Girls’ and Women’s Rights.
• Did Malala Yousafzai lead a life typical of a girl in Pakistan? Why or why not?

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. What were the girls like at Yousafzai’s cousin’s school in Shangla?

2. How long were Yousafzai and her family away from Swat Valley before returning?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe how Yousafzai felt about her future as a result of being displaced.

2. What were some of the physical after-effects of the shooting that Yousufzai experienced during her recovery? 

Paired Resource

“Mental Health and Forced Displacement”

• This fact-based article from the World Health Organization outlines the impacts on mental health of forced displacement.
• This article’s content connects to the theme of Civilian Experiences of War.
• What were the mental health impacts on the Yousafzai children when their family had to leave Swat Valley and return to devastation three months later?

“Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl”

• This is the blog that Yousafzai wrote that got her in trouble with the Taliban for activism. This page describes several days in January 2009 as narrated by Yousafzai.
• This diary entry is also an example of the themes Civilian Experiences of War and Girls’ and Women’s Rights.
• In what ways does Yousafzai’s January 3 entry in her blog foreshadow what happens to her several years later?

Part 2, Introduction and Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. In which country did Yousafzai meet other displaced women in 2014?

2. How old was Zeynab when she came from Egypt to the United States?

3. What emotion does Yousafzai say is often overlooked by public discourse about refugee issues?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How did the government in Yemen react when protesters called on the president to resign?

2. Why was 2016 a difficult year in Minnesota for Zeynab?

3. What does Zeynab say is her biggest dream?

Paired Resource

“Timeline: How the Arab Spring Unfolded”

• This news article from Aljazeera details a timeline of events leading to the development of the Arab Spring in Yemen and other countries in the Middle East.
• Readers can connect the text’s theme of Civilian Experiences of War.
• How does Zeynab’s story map against the timeline of the Arab Spring as described in this article? Place the events she describes in the timeline shown.

“When Islamophobia Turns Violent: The 2016 US Presidential Elections”

• This report by the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University discusses the trends and patterns surrounding Islamophobia since the start of the 2016 US election.
• The theme of Navigating Information and Bureaucracy is evident in the article.
• What are the impacts of Islamophobia that Zeynab experiences in Minnesota in 2016? How did the national climate at that time support an outpouring of hatred towards Muslims?

Part 2, Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. How long did Muzoon and her family live in Syria before coming to Zaatari?

2. What is the name of Najla’s religious group in Iraq?

3. Where did Najla hide in Sinjar for five days?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How are the experiences of fleeing violence similar for Najla and Maria?

2. What explanation did the girls that Muzoon met at Zaatari give her for not attending school?

Paired Resource

“‘My Children Ask Me, What is Syria?’ Za’atari Refugee Camp Enters Second Decade”

• This brief article was published by the United Nations on the ten-year anniversary of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. The article contains stories of several refugees as well as a video commemorating the 10th anniversary of the camp.
• This content connects to the theme of Girls’ and Women’s Rights and Civilian Experiences of War.
• Consider the interview shown in this piece with the 10-year-old refugee named Ghina. How is her story similar to and different from the stories appearing in this section of We Are Displaced? Why?

Part 2, Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. What did Analisa’s mother sell at the marketplace where she worked in Guatemala?

2. How long did it take Marie Claire and her family to travel to Zambia?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe Marie Claire’s mother’s attitude toward education.

2. Describe the moment when Analisa questioned her decision to leave Guatemala.

3. What was Analisa’s half-brother Oscar like, and how did he treat her?

Paired Resource

“Why Central American Migrants Are Arriving at the U.S. Border”

• This brief analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations discusses the economic precariousness and domestic violence that have led so many people to flee the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
• This information connects to the theme of Civilian Experiences of War.
• Do you think the reasons outlined in this article for people leaving the Northern Triangle explain Analisa’s reasons for leaving Guatemala? How are her reasons similar and/or different?

Part 2, Chapter 16-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. What phrase does Ajida use to describe her marriage?

2. In what year was Farah forced to leave Uganda?

3. What event made Jennifer decide to help Marie Claire and her family?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What challenges did Farah and her sisters face growing up in Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s?

2. What made Yousafzai feel happy when she returned to Swat Valley in 2018?

Recommended Next Reads 

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

• This memoir, written by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb and published in 2013, describes the experiences of displacement and violence experienced by Yousafzai in Pakistan.
• Theme connections include Civilian Experiences of War, Navigating Information and Bureaucracy, and Girls’ and Women’s Rights.
• Shared topics include displacement, the education of girls, activism, and war.
• I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban on SuperSummary

A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernandez

• This coming-of-age memoir chronicles the stories of Cuban American women experiences with love, money, and race written by Daisy Hernandez, the daughter of immigrants to the United States.
• Theme connections include Memory, Race, Immigration, Identity.
• Topics include coming of age, the lives of immigrants in the US, and experiences of immigration.
• A Cup of Water Under My Bed on SuperSummary