Home of the Brave

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. Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa, sharing borders with Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, and the Central African Republic. List facts or speculations about the culture, history, and politics of Sudan. What struggles might modern-day refugees from this region face?

Teaching Suggestion: Sudan is an African country with rich history and traditions, but it is also a country that’s been deeply affected by colonialism, civil war, and other political strife. This history of struggle, in part, is what propels Kek and his family into action and forces them to flee. Learning about Sudanese culture will help students better understand the challenges Kek faces Adjusting to a New Home and Culture.

• This article from National Geographic discusses the Sudanese kingdoms whose history is a common source of pride for Sudanese people.
• “What Went Wrong in Sudan?“ is a 5-minute educational video that offers background and recent repeated conflicts.
• “Sudan Profile – Timeline“ is a helpful resource from the BBC.

Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced learners, consider spending more time learning about the history of Sudan and South Sudan, and taking a deeper dive into the complex political and global forces that have molded the region it is today. As a starting point, you may want to have students watch the long-form documentary by Al Jazeera “Sudan: History of a Broken Land,” or read Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s essay entitled “Sudan: From Conflict to Conflict.”

2. It is common for young children and teens to be separated from their families when seeking asylum or emigrating from another country. What might be the main reasons why family separation occurs for many refugee and migrant children? How might circumstances, geography, and politics be involved?

Teaching Suggestion: Kek’s family is torn apart in their escape from Sudan: His father and older brother are killed, and in the transition to Minnesota, Kek is also separated from his mother. Throughout the novel, the importance of Family and Friendship—especially in the face of forces that drive them apart—becomes one of the primary motivations for Kek. Learning more about how and why family separation occurs for refugees and asylum seekers will help students understand Kek’s plight while simultaneously emphasizing that Kek’s experience is far from unique.

• “Key Points: Traumatic Separation and Refugee & Immigrant Children“ from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers brief, bulleted information on the effects of separating refugee children from their families.
• This outline from The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks the family separation policies of the Trump administration.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most prominent leaders in the American civil rights movement, once said: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” What does this quote mean to you? Do you feel as though you have “infinite hope,” even when faced with “finite disappointment?

Teaching Suggestion: The theme of Holding on to Hope is a major one throughout the novel. By exploring this quotation, students will get in touch with their own personal sense and experience with how holding on to a sense of hope—even in the most dire and difficult of circumstances—is a strategy in survival. Though most students will not have experienced the hardship and tragedies of Kek and his family, they will nonetheless have had familiarity with fostering a sense of hope.

•  “Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. with 15 of His Most Powerful Quotes“ pairs some of his most profound quotations with images from his life.
• “To Hope as Martin Luther King Jr. Hoped“ is a brief article from The Harvard Gazette on King’s legacy.