It is eye-opening to start here, with a quiz about the perceptions and realities at the center of the immigration debate. We're going to explore the history of immigration in America--a somewhat mindblowing concept, since America's entire history can be said to be one of immigration. But we'll start with turn-of-the-century immigrant New York via Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This coming-of-age novel is a richly-plotted narrative about three generations in a poor but proud American family. The story provides a detailed, unsentimental portrait of urban life at the beginning of the twentieth century (the novel opens in 1912).
Some critics argue that many of the characters can be dismissed as stereotypes--which is to say, they exhibit quaint characteristics or pat qualities of either nobility or degeneracy. We'll answer if this is a fair criticism. Which characters are the most convincing? The least?
How does ethnic identity play itself out in the community?
And regarding symbolism: find three instances in which the tree is discussed. Does the tree always represents hope and perseverance? At different points does it also have other significations? How is the symbol used differently each time? How does it still represent the same idea?
Here are helpful links to lesson plans about immigration in specific relation to questions raised by this book:
