Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again is a verse novel by Thanhha Lai. The book was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and one of the two Newbery Honors. The novel was based on her first year in the United States, as a ten-year-old girl who spoke no English in 1975. 

For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food . . . and the strength of her very own family.

1

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
An older woman/ throws up her arms/ and hugs us.
We’re so startled/ we stand like trees.
Why do you think the author described the characters as standing “like trees?”

1

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Bathroom paper hangs/ like ghosts/ from our willow.
How did the author use this simile and specific word choices to create a mood in the poem

1

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.
What type of figurative language is used in these lines?

1

PART B: What emotion do the characters feel in these lines? How does the author use word choice to convey these emotions? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.
Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.

1

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Eggs explode / like smears of snot / on our front door.
PART A: What is the meaning of this simile?

1

Read the following excerpt from the passage:An older woman/ throws up her arms/ and hugs us.We’re so startled/ we stand like trees.Why do you think the author described the characters as standing “like trees?”

Read the following excerpt from the passage:Bathroom paper hangs/ like ghosts/ from our willow.How did the author use this simile and specific word choices to create a mood in the poem

Read the following excerpt from the passage:Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.What type of figurative language is used in these lines?

PART B: What emotion do the characters feel in these lines? How does the author use word choice to convey these emotions? Explain your answer using evidence from the text. Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.

Read the following excerpt from the passage:Eggs explode / like smears of snot / on our front door.PART A: What is the meaning of this simile?

PART B: Select THREE ways the word choice or phrasing affect tone or mood.

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
An older woman/ throws up her arms/ and hugs us.
We’re so startled/ we stand like trees.
Why do you think the author described the characters as standing “like trees?”

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Bathroom paper hangs/ like ghosts/ from our willow.
How did the author use this simile and specific word choices to create a mood in the poem

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.
What type of figurative language is used in these lines?

PART B: What emotion do the characters feel in these lines? How does the author use word choice to convey these emotions? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.
Redness crawls across/ my brothers’ faces./ Mother pats their backs.

Read the following excerpt from the passage:
Eggs explode / like smears of snot / on our front door.
PART A: What is the meaning of this simile?