United for One

In the novel “Inside out & Back Again” written by Thanhha Lai , The main character Ha flees her home due to war. Her and her family were looking for a new home trying to start a new life. Although it wasn’t easy for her to start a new life she had to learn to overcome many challenges. In the novel Ha reveals that her life is related to the refugee life even though it was unexpected. When refugees flee their home, it affects them when they leave and find a new home, it also involves affecting them when their life is turned inside out,and it demonstrates why they relate to the refugee experience.

Families and their traditions can impact on the level of devotion and affection that ties people together, as well as how one reacts to a particular situation that may reinforce or harm his or her relationships. The notion of family belonging is an idea repeated throughout The Happiest Refugee and the analysis of various techniques makes this evident. ‘But my father treated that loss as if it were a win, and it was a lesson that stayed with me for a long time. If the worst happens, but you still celebrate coming second. There is no need to fear failure’ is a quote from page 48 that highlights the level of family belonging through the use of repetition as it is a message that reoccurs throughout the memoir. The sole idea recreated throughout the novel thoroughly

In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting an excerpt from a book and a refugee story. I will talk about both the differences and the similarities of each story.

In Warren St. John’s Outcasts United, the citizens of Clarkston, Georgia had a fantasy of living in the ideal American town. However, that fantasy stood no chance when faced with the harsh reality of life. When a myriad of refugees from war-torn countries were placed in Clarkston, the townspeople saw their fantasy begin to slip away. Clarkston’s residents disliked the influx of refugees because they feared the thought of losing their ideal American town. The citizens were too selfish to live in such a state of liminality as depicted by St. John. Rather than helping their neighbors, the “old” Clarkston residents maintained their ideology by isolating the refugees and making it nearly impossible for the refugees to survive or have a desirable life in Clarkston. The Clarkston residents were driven by fear of the unknown and were reluctant to accept the refugees. Luma started a youth soccer program, which was aimed toward the refugee children to help the younger generation of refugees fit into the American society and lessen the tensions between the Clarkston residents and the refugees that was evident in her generation of refugees. The Clarkston residents had to accept and become a part of the inevitable change in their community.

Outcasts United by Warren St. John is a wonderful book about a community of refugees who live in Clarkston, Georgia and their struggles to adapt with foreign environment of the United States. The book tells the stories of refugees that come from different background and countries in which they are connected together by an American- educated Jordanian woman called Luma Mufleh. Despite their difficulties in establishing new identity, they found their passion in soccer and with Luma Mufleh as their coach they create a soccer team called Fugees. In the early chapters of the book, it illustrates the difficulties to make a group of kids from different background unite and work together

One reason why I think Lupe is a good role model is because she is very intelligent. As proof, Lupe’s academic grades are straight A’s. This shows that Lupe is intelligent because not many people get straight A’s on their report card every year of school. Secondly, Lupe is intelligent because she has won multiple awards. For example, Lupe won the school spelling bee, she won the blue ribbon award in the science fair, she was the winner of a reading contest at the library three summers in a row, she was also the top student in her piano recital, and she was the playground champion of chess. Talk about a ton of awards, right? Lupe feels like none of these awards mean anything though. Lupe wishes she could win some type of award in athletics, so that she can keep up with the other girls in her school, that’s why Lupe is working towards her goal of being the marble champion. Also, in one case in the story, when Lupe was playing marbles on her bed, she figured out that her bedspread was slowing down the marbles as she shot them. This

“Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend.” ― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose. Outcasts United, by Warren St. John, follows the stories of war-torn refugees that found themselves in the small town community of Clarkston. Tensions were high as the wave of new culture clashed with the status quo of “Old Clarkston” residents. However, in light of the unstable situation, a group of young boys were able to find their home on the soccer field. The human need for belonging is explored in this book. However, refugees have an extremely difficult journey to acceptance due to the isolating tendencies that resettlement can cause.

4) What is Luma's purpose for tough love through out the book? How can it relate to Brown's method?

The Refugee Situation Worldwide Warren St. John, a “youth soccer” referee, was moved by the Fugees, a refugee soccer team, and decided to follow them to get to know their story. His book, Outcasts United, was published in April 2009. Warren St. John follows the journey and struggles of Luma, the Fugees and their families throughout his book. Luma was just a regular woman in Jordan who, because of her culture, was expected to marry and take care of her children and let the husband work, but she did not think women were any less than men. She was also very tough and she never showed emotion or weakness.

If I were to relate myself to someone from the story, I believe I would have to relate myself to the character Laurel. When I was much younger, I was void of all knowledge regarding any type of prejudice or meanness the world harnessed. I was very naïve, and never understood why most people just didn’t get along, or just talked their problems out. Just like Laurel, I found out how unfairly people are treated through the teachings of my father. Even in today’s society where racism is not nearly as accepted as it was in the past, there are still several cases of prejudice feelings being pushed onto people. I truly hope that one day these hardships people face can be overcome, and the people of Earth realize that if we are to advance into the future we need to put any harsh feelings our ancestors had behind, and realize that on the inside we are all the same.

In the beginning of the story Lupe shows that hard work pays off. The story said, “She was a straight-a student, and never missed a day of elementary school.” This shows that it took hard work to get to all a’s and not missing a day of school. Also the story said, “She begged her body to move faster, but could never beat anyone...” Even though she wasn’t good at sports she tried hard to find a sport. The last example is that she kept trying and trying and her aim got better, but her thumb strength was very weak and could only get the marbles to move couple inches. This means she really wants to win the championship and keeps trying even if she might not be getting that much better. That is how Lupe worked hard in the beginning of the story.

The book tells ten different stories about very special heroes. I would like to tell you about my three favorite stories. The first of my favorite stories is “Greater Love Hath

As the story ended, Luma had many problems like helping the families of her teams as much as possible to having a burnt out brake light. And because Luma had many problems that she had to handle she didn't have time to fix her burnt out brake light. As Luma led the way for the loaded bus of soccer players ready to take on the Athens United Gold Valiants. She got stopped by a policeman due to her broken light. He said that her license had been suspended and that he had to arrest her.

Among the stories that I read or heard about it from fellows, my favorite story which I loved it was "In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd" by Ana Menendez because it tells about Cuban emigrant who left their home because they want to keep going in the life(Menendez, 2001). This story remembers me about Syrian refugees, it's like tell their story, so it attracted me more and more as it represents us. One of the sentences that make me sad was ". He left behind the row house of long shiny windows, the piano, the mahogany furniture, and the pension he thought he'd return to in two years' time. Three if things were as serious as they said"( Menendez, 2001). Because it's like a dream to back to homeland when you left it in order to exceptional circumstances.

The reason I chose this book is because it is about a different culture and a different life than of anyone I know.