From the Book of Unknown Americans

Which sentence best fits the theme found in The Book of Unknown Americans?

• Life as an immigrant is easy.

• Home can only be one place.

• Adjusting to life as an immigrant is a difficult and lengthy process.

• Most immigrants choose to let go of their roots and embrace being American.

The novel's title, The Book of Unknown Americans, emphasizes the idea in the excerpt that the characters struggle to...

• Find out about their past.

• Locate their other family members.

• Return to their former home.

• Fit in with their new culture.

Which statement best describes the narrator’s internal conflict in the story?

• The narrator is pressured by his family about feeling Panamanian and by his peers about not being American, yet he feels more American than Panamanian.

• The narrator implies feeling confused when his family appears proud to become American citizens at the courthouse.

• The narrator discusses feeling more American than Panamanian, yet his father gets angry when accused of being an American.

• The narrator states that he cannot remember anything about living in Panama like his brother who reminisces about his memories.

The novel’s title, The Book of Unknown Americans, emphasizes the idea in the excerpt that the characters struggle to

• find out about their past

• locate their other family members

• fit in with their new culture

• return to their former home

Which aspect of family dynamics is highlighted in the immigrant families of the book?

• The ease of adjusting to a new country

• The struggle to maintain traditional values

• The lack of challenges faced by second-generation immigrants

• The absence of conflict within immigrant families

What struggle related to identity and belonging is faced by the characters?

• Finding a new identity that completely erases their past

• Balancing their original cultural identity with their new American identity

• Rejecting any form of identity

• Having no interest in belonging to any community

How are language barriers depicted as affecting the characters' lives?

• They have no impact on the characters' lives

• They make it easier for characters to assimilate

• They create misunderstandings and isolation

• They are quickly overcome without effort

How do the characters in the book primarily deal with cultural assimilation challenges?

• By isolating themselves from their new community

• By trying to adopt new customs and language

• By returning to their home country

• By ignoring the differences and living as they did before

As used in paragraph 25, what does the word recruit mean?

• to hire

• to strengthen

• to enlist

• to renew

Which is a possible theme of The Book of Unknown Americans?

• Cultural Identity

• People cannot feel that they belong if they are not accepted.

• People from other countries who move here dislike America once they live there for a while.

• Mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them.