1. What is the age difference between Krys and Kim? 2. How does Krys describe the tone of her mother’s voice? 3. Where is Krys’s family originally from? 4. What stories has Krys heard about immigration? 5. Why can’t Krys’s family ask the landlord to carry out renovations on the apartment? 6. Why did Krys’s father believe moving to New Jersey was the right thing to do? 7. What did Krys and Kim do when the immigration offi cers left? 8. What features of a typical personal essay can you identify in this piece?
Explore 3
1. Which word from the choices below would you say best describes the atmosphere in Krys’s apartment during the visit from the immigration offi cers? Give two reasons for your answer.
Tense Frightening Nerve-wracking
2. What barriers do you think Krys and Kim face in their day-to-day lives as immigrants living in the United States?
Investigate
1. Look at recent news articles. Find out as much as you can about real accounts of immigrants trying to fl ee their own country in search of a better life. Share your fi ndings with the class.
2. In recent years the world has seen large groups of people fl eeing their countries in search of shelter. Use your research skills to fi nd out what Ireland has done to tackle the refugee crisis. Do you think it is enough?
Create
Write a letter to Krys responding to this event and telling her how reading about it made you feel in the space provided on page 46 of your Portfolio.
