The document provides 5 potential prompts for a 5-page double spaced response to the graphic novel "Vietnamerica" by GB Tran. The prompts ask the reader to critically analyze themes in the memoir like family relationships, immigration experiences, and Vietnamese history. They also ask how Tran's experience of living through and escaping the Vietnam War as a child shaped her memories compared to her parents who experienced it as adults. Additionally, the prompts discuss how Tran sought an "origin story" to understand her family's context and how the Vietnam War impacted her personal relationships and immigrant experience.

1. Write a 5 page (double spaced) responding to 2-3 of
Write a 5 page (double spaced) responding to 2-3 of following prompts, with specific,
detailed references to the graphic novel (i.e., must demonstrate that read the entire graphic
novel, and thought critically about it), and placing the graphic novel within the historical
context we discussed this semester:Thi’s memoir weaves together several big themes—the
complicated natures of family and especially parent-child relationships, experiences of
immigration and racial/ethnic prejudice, and Vietnamese history (both personal and
national). Do you think Thi’s memoir speaks just to the experience of post-Vietnam War
southeast Asian immigrants? To 20th century immigrant families overall? All families with
complicated interpersonal dynamics?Thi’s relationship with her parents evolved as she
learned more about their history, and their families’ history, in college and as an adult. How
and why did their relationships change? Is this something you can relate to (seeing your
parents in a new light as you get older, and/or learn more about their childhood)?How did
the fact that Thi experienced the aftermath of the Vietnam War, escaped to Malaysia, and
immigrated to the United States as a young child effect how she experienced those events?
What about how she remembered them? How was her parent’s memories of those events
different, since they experienced them as adults?Thi’s narrative (along with many graphic
novels) jumps back and forth between different time periods (usually one historical
timeline that moves through roughly chronologically, and then one or more later, more
present, timelines). How do these time jumps impact the narrative and your reading of it?
How does it enhance the narrative?At one point in the graphic novel (page 40-41), Thi said
she was looking for an origin story to “set everything right,” to better understand and
contextualize her family. This is often a more difficult task for immigrants, if that origin lies
in countries and /or people left behind. How did Thi try to “place her family in context”—
historical, personal, geographic? How did the Vietnamese history Thi and her parents lived
through impact their personal relationships? Their immigrant experience? And how did
their immigrant experience impact Thi’s family relationships?There are lots of different
perspectives on the Vietnam War (and a century of colonialism that preceded it). For
example, the United States’ anti-communist stance is often framed as “the good guys” and
“bringing democracy” to Vietnam (see page 206-209). After the fall of South Vietnam, the
communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam created a narrative about how “the people” had
won the war, and how it was a national victory for all of Vietnam. Who were the “heroes”
and “villains” in Vietnamese history, according to Thi’s memoir? Why? How did Thi’s
memoir change how you think about the Vietnam War?Pick a page or a couple-page-long

2. scene that you found particularly powerful and discuss it in more detail. How do the
illustrations, framing, dialogue, narration, and visual effects meld together to immerse you
in the story and/or provoke a strong response from the reader? What did you learn from
this scene? How did it make you feel? How did it help you grapple with the heavy subject of
the graphic novel?