The Latehomecomer

Though her family remembers life in the refugee camps as challenging, Yang identifies the family’s move to the United States as the beginning of greater personal hardship. Why does living in the United States pose such a challenge to Yang? What might her hardship reveal about the gaps in assistance available for refugees and asylees? Consider these points as you formulate a response.

• With what kinds of grief must Yang contend upon her arrival in the United States? To what extent is she able to express this grief?
• Are Yang’s hardships more closely related to US culture and institutions or to changing family dynamics?
• How do the family’s struggles before and after entering the United States differ?
• How do the family’s circumstances demonstrate that it is possible to leave a life-threatening situation and still be unable to find peace?
• What fundamental needs do refugees like the Yangs have and to what extent are these met or unmet by US programs and institutions?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from written copies of the bulleted questions to refer to while discussing. They may also benefit from previewing questions ahead of time to prepare in-depth answers and refer more directly to the text. Group or personal notetaking may increase information retention.