Questions : 

???In The Gangster We are all Looking For the families that they stayed with held religious faiths that centered around a very Christian faith.

Commonly, it is religious groups that take on the tasks of helping those in need, but historically that help can be violent, oppressive, and even genocidal. What significance do you think that the author meant by including this information, and what links does it have to other historical narratives around war?

2.As the reader encounters different characters and places throughout the book, the narrator reveals a tapestry of experiences that span generations and cultures. By examining the diverse ways in which individuals navigate identities and histories in the Vietnamese diaspora, how does this tapestry contribute to a broader understanding of the Vietnamese diaspora?

3. In the novel, photographs become tangible links to the past, to the homeland, and to the identities left behind by characters. How does the use of photographs in fiction as “secular imprints of ghosts” deepen our understanding of memory and loss in the context of refugee experiences?

4. Religion and spirituality often play a significant role in immigrant narratives. How do you think the role of religion played out in the novel? Do you think faith helps in situation the characters’ faced?

part 2 

Vision of Mathematics Statement

The readings, activities and experiences of this course have been designed to expand your thinking about what doing, teaching, and learning mathematics entails. This assignment is designed to give you a chance to make connections across our course experiences and to articulate ideas that have resonated for you about mathematics itself and about mathematics teaching and learning this quarter.  You will also be asked to consider the implications of these ideas for work with children in schools and/or for your own relationship to mathematics.

To write your statement, select two big ideas that have emerged for you from course readings, resources, activities, and experiences about mathematics and/or the teaching and learning of mathematics.  For each of your big ideas you will:

1. Clearly state the big idea in a heading for each section (e.g., Big idea #1: Mathematics is about experimentation and play.)
2. Offer at least two quotes from readings and/or videos from the course that shaped your thinking about this idea. Use these citations to support, explain, or clarify your idea and why it is important.
3. Discuss what feels so important or interesting about this idea for you and why you’ve chosen it. You are, as always, welcome and encouraged to make connections between your own lived experiences and the ideas that you have encountered in this course.
4. Make explicit connection to at least one other course experience, reading, or activity that shaped your thinking about this idea and talk about your learning.
5. Include a paragraph that discusses your current thinking about the implications of this big idea for work with children and/or for your own feelings about mathematics. For example, you might explain how this idea is causing you to think differently about your interactions with children in a tutoring setting, about a future classroom, about what it might mean to raise mathematically powerful children. You might also consider implications for your own daily interactions with/feelings about mathematics.