Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Between the 1950s and 1970s, war between the pro-communist North and the U.S.- supported South plagued the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam. As a result of the conflict, multitudes of Vietnamese civilians fled their country of origin to find a more stable life for themselves and their families. Read the links below and consider the following questions: What were the major effects of the Vietnam War on its citizens? Who were the “Vietnamese Boat People” and where were they going? What information do historians have about these boat journeys today?

Teaching Suggestion: Use these questions as an opportunity to introduce the war in Vietnam; depending on students’ grade level, this information could be paired with their U.S. History course. Rather than focusing on the conflict itself, encourage students to think about the effects of war on civilians, mainly in terms of economic and social impacts, which ultimately led to an exodus of people risking their lives during the dangerous journey from Vietnam. Students should incorporate both links, as well as their own research (optional), into their responses.

• This article from Britannica provides a detailed overview of the war in Vietnam, along with several photographs of the “Vietnamese Boat People.”
• This website called Vietnamese Boat People serves as an awareness-raising platform to share information regarding the history of refugees leaving Vietnam after the war.

2. As a result of the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese resettled in Australia. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Australian immigration policies were adapted based on the influx of people. Using the links below, summarize how immigration to Australia, as well as the response from the Australian government, changed over the course of the 20th century to the present day.

Teaching Suggestion: Use this prompt to highlight the refugee situation in Australia. Specifically, students should be aware of the policy change towards refugees after the wave of individuals coming from Vietnam. Although the memoir does not focus on the political aspects of the Do family’s application for refugee status in Australia, students should be aware of the change in policies towards refugees after Do’s experience, especially considering the increased media attention surrounding the treatment of asylum seekers by the Australian government. This prompt can also be linked to the first Student Resource entitled Stateless.

• These statistics from Refugee Council Australia provide information on Australia’s policies regarding their intake of refugees from the early 20th century to the present day.
• This article from the National Museum Australia shares primary sources on the first arrival of Vietnamese refugees to This timeline highlights the major events in Vietnamese immigration to Australia as of 2012.
• This article from World Atlas provides an overview of the demographics in present-day Australia, including statistics of ethnic diversity.