Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Much of
farewell
to manzanar deals with Jeanne's struggle to discover her
identity. How does her Japanese identity conflict with her American
identity? How does her experience with prejudice help her to reconcile
the two?
2. What is the
role of non-Japanese characters in Wakatsuki's memoir?
3. Upon returning
from Manzanar, Jeanne finds that the hatred she must face is very
different from the “dark cloud” she imagined would descend on her.
What are the different forms of hatred depicted in
farewell
to manzanar, and how do they manifest themselves?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. There are three semifictional
chapters in Farewell to Manzanar. Why does Wakatsuki
combine fictionalized elements with the nonfiction of a memoir?
2. Discuss the generation gap
between Issei immigrants and their Nisei children. How are they
different? What characteristics do they share?
3. Wakatsuki never seems bitter
about her experience in Manzanar and never directly condemns the
relocation policy. Why does she choose not to pass judgment?
4. How does Jeanne's view of
Japanese Americans change throughout the work?
5. How does Wakatsuki develop
Papa as a tragic figure? Why does she make him so central to her
story?
6. What are the chief differences
between Woody and Papa? How are they similar?
7. Wakatsuki gives almost no
information about the war in the course of the memoir. Why does
she choose to leave the war out of her story for the most part?
