BEYOND THE BOOK

links and resources | titles of interest | curricular programming | extra-curricular activities

Learn more about the themes and experiences described in the book. The following are a few resources to go beyond the book, including discussion questions, classroom resources, and extra-curricular activities.

Links and Resources:

Other Titles of Interest:

  • Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, At Home and Abroad,
    Firoozeh Dumas
  • Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - a memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution,
    Marjane Satrapi
  • I Begin My Life All Over - the story of 36 Hmong immigrants to California,
    Professor Lillian Faderman, Lillian Faderman, Ghia Xiong
  • Almost Americans: A quest for Identity - born of immigrant parents, a Filipino father and a Norwegian mother, the author chronicles her experiences growing up in California,
    Patricia Justiniani McReynolds
  • Journey of Hope, Memoirs of a Mexican Girl,
    Rosalina Rosay

Return to Top
Return to Top

The following resources were developed through the One Book Faculty Development Grant, with funding from Wells Fargo.

Extra- and Co-Curricular Programming/Activities: The following faculty-developed models can be adapted and used as a resource for bringing multiple groups together for shared One Book activities.  These resources focus on bringing cross-discipline groups together outside the classroom to connect the One Book’s themes, issues, and ideas to shared interests and concerns.

  1. “Who is an American?”: An American-Immigrants Film Series
    Hellen Lee-Keller, Assistant Professor, English
    “The Series will present six films that focus on multiple formations of the family and that address the complexities and challenges as well as the hardships and humor of immigration to the United States. The films will provide a diversity of experiences by featuring immigration to the U.S. from Scandinavia, U.K., Eastern Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and North America. Free, evening screenings of feature-length films will be followed by an informal discussion.” Please click here for showtimes.

Return to Top
Return to Top

Course Specific Curricular Activities/Assignments: These models can be adapted and used as resource for faculty integrating the one book into the classroom. Curricular activities and assignments connect the One Book’s themes, issues, and ideas to specific disciplinary content, processes, and course learning outcomes.

  1. Reflections on Funny in Farsi: An Exhibit of Art, Writing & Multimedia
    Vanessa Arnaud, Lecturer, Foreign Languages
    HONR 1: Education, Self-Examination, and Living
    “Students will work in groups to produce Reflections on Funny in Farsi: An Exhibit of Art, Writing & Multimedia.  They will create a visual response to Funny in Farsi.  The visualization will focus on a memorable, significant, and/or inspirational element of the book.... Students will compare their own role as students in relationship to Dumas’ role through a close reading and discussion of the text.”

  2. The Purposes and Traditions of the University
    Mimi Coughlin, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education
    EDTE 21: Freshman Seminar: Becoming an Educated Person
    “Students can be given a formal or informal writing assignment … to help them solidify the personal meaning they made of the author’s visit and the themes from the book that were explored.  They can also reflect on the larger meaning of events like this for the cultural and intellectual life of the community.”   

  3. Read One Book in an Hour
    Lana Daly, Lecturer, Teacher Education
    EDTE 21: Freshman Seminar: Becoming an Educated Person
    “The overall aim of this activity is to provide an opportunity for all students in the class to actively participate in the reading of the book in preparation for attending the “One Book” author presentation on October 15, 2008, and participation in various follow up activities tied to course objectives.... Most books can be adapted to the “Read a Book in an Hour” teaching and learning strategy.”

  4. Responding in Writing: Three Activities
    Catherine Fraga, Lecturer, English
    ENGL 1A: College Composition I
    “Dumas’ memoir features numerous themes raised in the discussion of and writing about rites of passage, including issues of cultural tradition, stereotypes, and the universal theme of being an outsider.... Students will practice writing critically and presenting a logical examination that is balanced and well supported with their own observations as well as outside sources.”

  5. Entering a New Discourse Community: A Writing Sequence
    Fiona Glade, Assistant Professor, English
    ENGL 21: Freshman Seminar
    “Dumas’ experiences as a new immigrant reflect, to a certain extent, a new college student’s experiences during that first semester on campus.... Students will collaborate in small groups to present their thoughts on the One Book and their new discourse community experiences to other First Year Experience students.”

  6. Illustrating Concepts of Communication and Intercultural Movie Assignment
    Linda J. Martin, Lecturer, Communication Studies
    COMS 5: The Communication Experience
    “Students will read the One Book at the beginning of the semester and use it as a common frame of reference as we explore self-concept, perception, interpersonal communication, relationships.... Because the theme of the book Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American overlaps with the theme from the graphic novel Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, a memoir in words and pictures by Marjane Satrapi, … students can analyze both of these works for application of concepts from the course.”

  7. Second Language Learning and Teaching
    Mi-Suk Seo, Assistant Professor, English
    ENGL 110P: Second Language Learning and Teaching
    “Students will be asked to identify chapters that are relevant to the issues and theories in second language learning and teaching and write a response paper, explaining how those chapters … relate to their own personal experiences of learning and/or using a second language.  Optionally, the students may choose to interview at least one ESL (English as a Second Language) learner about the issues described in the relevant chapters of the book and incorporate the results in their papers.”

Return to Top
Return to Top

last updated: 11/20/2008