38 pages 1 hour read

Yoshiko Uchida

Desert Exile

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1982

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Essay Topics

1.

In the Introduction, Yamamoto writes that Desert Exile “links the affirmation of Issei strength with the unconstitutional context in which that courage became legible.” What does Yamamoto mean by “courage became legible,” and in what way does the book fit this description?

2.

Uchida discusses feeling fully American as a child and after incarceration not feeling truly Japanese or fully American. What makes her feel this way?

3.

Uchida often uses landscape imagery, such as flourishing gardens, or barren desert. How do these changing details reflect the larger narrative in Desert Exile?