Our Missing Hearts

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY: “A History of Separation”

In this activity, students will research historical measures that separated parents from their children and the effects of such measures.

After Margaret learns how children are being separated from their parents through PACT, she also comes to recognize the longer history of government measures that separated either parents from children or whole groups from society, such as Japanese imprisonment during World War II or the residential school era for Native Americans. In groups of four or five, you and your classmates will explore some of this history, its aims, and what we should learn from it so that we don’t repeat our mistakes and end up passing a law like PACT.

Get into a group with three or four other students. Each group should pick one of the following topics to focus on:

• Japanese imprisonment during World War II
• Native American boarding schools
• The separation of enslaved families before the Civil War
• Separation of parents from children at the US border in the 21st century

Groups may also choose another topic if there is a similar history with which they are familiar. Together you will create a poster board and 5-10 minute presentation to share with the rest of the class. Some of this material may be difficult, and if you need to step out or discuss an alternative assignment, please discuss this with your teacher.

Use the following questions to help guide your research:

• When did this forced separation occur? Why were these measures put in place?
• Who was hurt as a result of the separation? How did others respond? How do people respond to this history now?
• Did groups protest? If so, were they successful?
• Is there a person’s or family’s story dealing with one of these separations that you can find that you can share with the class?

After groups finish their poster boards, each will give a short presentation to the rest of the class.

Teaching Suggestion: This research can be very difficult and heartbreaking. Encourage students who may struggle with this to step out or take time for themselves. Alternative assignments or topics might include stories of reunification between parents and children. This side of enforced separations is also important for thinking about The Dangers of Racism in Society and The Importance of Family—and Ng’s overall purpose in writing this novel in the 21^st century.

Differentiation Suggestion: Encourage students who might need more time or who have difficulty making presentations to record podcasts in which they share these stories audibly, just like Margaret did.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Despite the fact that many books have been removed from shelves, libraries remain important spaces in Our Missing Hearts.

• Why are libraries so important in this story? (topic sentence)
• Detail 3 instances in the novel in which a character encounters a library.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect your argument back to the theme of The Power of Storytelling.

2. As he travels through this dystopian society, Bird imagines himself in a fairytale.

• How does this tactic help Bird contend with the danger around him, his journey, and his mother? (topic sentence)
• Use 3 examples in which Bird mentions fairytales to help strengthen your essay.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how fairytales connect back to the theme of The Dangers of Racism in Society.

3. Our Missing Hearts is the title of both the novel and Margaret’s most famous poem.

• Why is this an important title for the novel? (topic sentence)
• What does “Our Missing Hearts” refer to? Cite 3 instances in this book in which this symbol appears.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect your essay back to the theme of The Importance of Family.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider Bird’s growth throughout the novel. When it begins, he is unsure of why his mother left and believes that his father wanted nothing to do with her. However, by the end, he finds that she left out of necessity and to protect him. Write an essay in which you analyze his growth as a character and connect it back to one of the novel’s three major themes: The Power of Storytelling, The Importance of Family, or The Dangers of Racism in Society.

2. What does this novel say about inaction? How do many of its citizens—particularly white citizens—look away when it comes to the racist and xenophobic actions of others toward Asian Americans in the wake of PACT? What action might Ng be trying to spur on through this novel? Consider these questions through a thesis-driven essay and be sure to use at least three examples from the text to support your audience, ultimately discussing inaction in relation to The Dangers of Racism in Society.

3. How is this novel an example of the storytelling it mentions within the story itself? In other words: how is storytelling important in this novel? Consider the stories that Margaret shares through her poetry, the speakers, and with Bird, as well as the stories that we hear about characters from one another. What effect does Ng seem to think stories can have on society?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What is significant about the librarian knowing Bird’s name even though he does not introduce himself?

A) This moment foreshadows how Bird’s mother is a larger part of the movement than Bird realizes.

B) This moment suggests that Bird is being watched by the government because of his suspect actions.

C) This moment builds tension between the reader and the librarian.

D) This moment foreshadows how Bird is going to change the world.

2. Why of the following best describes the setting in which Our Missing Hearts takes place?

A) Utopian

B) Historical

C) Dystopian

D) Fantasy

3. What do we learn about Margaret when she first sends Bird a letter?

A) That she plans to involve him in her next anti-PACT protest

B) That she has completely abandoned her family

C) That she knows his father won’t speak to her

D) That she has not forgotten about her son

4. Which of the following best describes why Bird starts to reevaluate his trust in society and in PACT?

A) When Bird realizes that his parents were forced to marry one another, he begins to understand that PACT structures society too much.

B) When Bird realizes that people will discriminate against him for being Asian, he starts to understand that PACT has caused xenophobia against innocent people.

C) When Bird realizes that Sadie was taken away because she was friends with him, he starts to understand that PACT fosters racism in society.

D) When Bird realizes that books are being recycled, he starts to question why PACT removes books from library shelves.

5. How does Ng’s choice to not reveal what the Crisis is until later in the novel impact the reader?

A) This decision builds tension and mystery within the novel.

B) This decision establishes an unreliable narrator at the start of the novel.

C) This decision allows the novel to end on a cliffhanger.

D) This decision allows Ng to insert herself as a narrator.

6. Which of the following best describes how Bird is able to brave traveling to New York alone?

A) By thinking of his mother, Bird knows that his arrival in New York will be met with hospitality by the Duchess.

B) By imagining himself back home with both of his parents, Bird finds comfort in what he believes is his future.

C) By reading about New York from a book he borrowed from the library, Bird grows his knowledge about the city and feels like he can face anything.

D) By thinking of his journey as a fairytale, Bird gains the courage to face uncertainty.

7. Which of the following functions best describes how Margaret uses stories in this novel?

A) Communication

B) Escape

C) Obedience

D) Travel

8. How is the Duchess able to assist the anti-PACT organization?

A) She is an outcast, so no one cares what she does.

B) She has a secret identity, so she flies under the radar.

C) She is wealthy and white, so no one questions her.

D) She is a lawmaker, so she can openly protest PACT.

9. How does Margaret’s attitude about PACT change after the Crisis?

A) At first Margaret supports PACT because she benefits from the return of financial wellbeing, but she later recognizes how it threatens her life and those of others.

B) At first Margaret supports PACT because she is afraid of what will happen if she doesn’t, but she later grows more openly critical of it.

C) At first Margaret is against PACT, but she later supports it when she benefits from the return of economic stability.

D) At first Margaret is against PACT, but she later becomes ambivalent about it after Bird is born.

10. Which of the following best describes how Ng uses the real history of American racism to accentuate her points in Our Missing Hearts?

A) Ng draws on the history of American racism to show the progress that has been made in the past century.

B) Ng draws on the history of American racism to tell an untold story about Asian Americans.

C) Ng draws on the history of American racism to tell readers how racial bias affects children.

D) Ng draws on the history of American racism to show that it is not a stretch for a law like PACT to happen in America.

11. Which of the following is celebrated through Margaret’s poetry?

A) The right to free speech

B) The power of women and motherhood

C) The American dream

D) The power of books and music

12. How is Margaret’s poetry different from what she initially imagined when she first wrote it?

A) She never imagined that it would be published.

B)  She never imagined that it would be used by pro-PACT advocates.

C) She never imagined that it would be used in protests.

D) She never imagined that it would go out of print.

13. Why might Margaret’s stories especially appeal to people’s emotions?

A) They are coming from a poet.

B) They are anonymous.

C) They are secrets.

D) They are about children.

14. Which of the following best describes what Bird and Sadie’s time in Connecticut symbolizes?

A) A freedom to be children without being watched

B) A middle ground between the past and the future

C) A place in which they can grow their friendship

D) A calm before the storm

15. What is implied by the fact that Bird and Margaret do not reunite at end of the novel and that he plans on finding her through her poetry?

A) That injustice has no happy ending

B) That stories are never-ending

C) That children are the future

D) That the government always wins

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why is the novel an apt tool for telling this story?

2. What role does Ng give to everyday citizens in this novel?