The Latehomecomer

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.

“Kao Kalia Yang's Story Cloth”

In this activity, students will research the Hmong story cloth art form; then, using storytelling principles inspired by this art form, they will create a visual version of Yang’s memoir and reflect on the differences between the two storytelling mediums in an artist’s statement.

Story cloths have been a way for Hmong people to preserve their history, culture, and family stories. For this activity, research the story cloth art form to understand design principles and find inspiration. Then, choose a theme and related symbols and motifs and create a visual representation of its development throughout Kao Kalia’s Yang’s story. Your visual should borrow from story cloth design principles but may be presented in a medium other than embroidery. Finally, you will create an artist’s statement that explains your artistic choices and compares the story represented in the visual medium to the written memoir.

• Research: Research Hmong story cloths to better understand design principles, to consider common themes, and to become inspired.
• Analyze: Choose a theme from The Latehomecomer and determine which symbols, motifs, and events would best illustrate the development of this theme visually.
• Draft: Sketch your story cloth. Seek feedback to ensure that your visual is utilizing story cloth design elements and focused on a key theme from The Latehomecomer.
• Create: Create your final product in a medium of your choice.
• Reflect: In a concise artist’s statement, explain your artistic choices and compare the story as represented in the visual medium to the written memoir.

Teaching Suggestion: Before engaging in this activity, students may benefit from a general discussion of the cultural storytelling forms with which they are familiar, the history and purpose behind them, and how they differ from written stories; this may help them to gain deeper insight into how different forms serve different functions. Feedback at the sketching stage may help ensure that students engage in deeper analysis in creating their final products. Class discussions throughout the process may provide opportunities for students to connect with and appreciate the nuances of storytelling forms and their importance within various cultures.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with organizational or executive functioning learning differences, graphic organizers or step guides may be beneficial. For multilingual learners, preselected and/or highlighted passages from Yang’s text may help with time management and ease transition from comprehension to analysis. To extend the assignment and open it up to more learning styles, consider having students research other Hmong storytelling or artistic forms such as song poetry, dance, and Hmong film production; students might borrow from these forms in their final project.

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. In The Latehomecomer, family plays a vital role in an individual’s ability to persevere.

• What role does family play in Yang’s ability to persevere? (topic sentence)
• Identify key relatives that support Yang as she grows up and explain how each relatives’ support is integral to her development despite the hardships she faces. Include details and examples in your discussion.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, relay the text’s message about the importance of strong familial ties for young people.

2. For Yang, a major conflict is feeling torn between being Hmong and being expected to assimilate.

• Generally, how does the conflict between being Hmong and assimilating in the United Sates manifest for Yang? (topic sentence)
• Provide 3 examples of the ways in which this conflict manifests during Yang’s youth and identify the ways in which she tries to reconcile them. Include details in your discussion to better support your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize what Yang’s struggle might reveal about immigrant and refugee experiences in the United States.

3. Yang’s parents believe education is the key to surviving in the United States; school, however, is a source conflict for Yang.

• What personal qualities allow Yang to find success regarding her education? (topic sentence)
• Identify factors that contribute to Yang’s negative experiences in school and explain how she achieves success despite these experiences. Choose the strongest examples and details to analyze and discuss in support of your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate with brief rationale whether education in the United State is more of a necessity or more of an obstacle for many refugees.

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. Though memoirs generally focus on key moments within the writer’s life, Yang focuses her lens on the stories of others, including even stories from before she was born. What role do those figures presented in her memoir play in her own key moments and story? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, discuss the significance of the most influential figures in Yang’s text. What conclusions might one draw about how Yang views herself and her role as a memoir writer?

2. Yang pays considerable attention to the contrasting spaces and places in which her family lives, bringing them to life with imagery and poetic language. What role does place play within Yang’s own coming-of-age? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, explore the messages Yang conveys regarding the impact of place on one’s character. What is she looking for in each space and where, if anywhere, does she find it?

3. Some of Yang’s earliest memories are of her family explaining to her that she is Hmong and thinking that Hmong was only “skin-deep.” Based on Yang’s story, what does it mean to her to be Hmong? How does she learn what it means to be Hmong? In what ways is The Latehomecomer not simply Yang’s memoir or the family’s story, but a reflection or iteration of the larger story of the Hmong?

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

Multiple Choice

1. What irony exists in Yang’s parents’ choice to marry?

A) Both were so young they did not know what marriage was.

B) They married because they thought they would be separated otherwise.

C) They married despite being away from their homeland.

D) Marriage is a life-affirming action in a time of death and tragedy.

2. Why does the meaning of Dawb’s name unsettle the family?

A) It means “white” for beauty, but it reminds them of their surrender to Lao soldiers.

B) It means “peace” but also “sorrow,” which the family considers cruel.

C) It means “happy” and “homeland,” though they have no homeland anymore.

D) It means “good future,” but they consider it a bad omen that her father was absent for the naming.

3. Why does being registered in Thailand cause Yang’s family both hope and grief?

A) The act of registering as Thai makes their loss of Lao citizenship more real.

B) Soldiers patrol the registration camp and this makes them feel unsafe.

C) Documentation confirms they exist but reduces Hmong people to numbers.

D) They hope the papers will work like visas so they can leave the camps.

4. Which of the following details is an example of refugee camp children externalizing their parents’ anxieties?

A) Children seldom laugh and spend their days working.

B) Children play chase games between the Vietnamese and the Hmong people.

C) Children fear the Thai soldiers even though they have never been shot at.

D) Children fall sick with disease due to unsanitary conditions.

5. What recurring nightmare does Yang’s father have in the refugee camps?

A) He dies in America without a son, and his spirit cannot return to Laos.

B) He is swimming with his wife and Dawb across the Pacific, but they drown.

C) His father’s spirit calls to him, but he does not know where the grave is.

D) Dawb and Kao Kalia become ill in the Thai camps, and he cannot afford care.

6. How does Yang’s grandmother view America?

A) America is where she becomes dependent on family instead of being depended on.

B) America is a place that is not good for raising children.

C) America is too big and loud.

D) America is the family’s only chance to survive and stay together.

7. What is the central concern of extended family meetings and gatherings in Minnesota?

A) They reminisce about Laos so the children will not forget their homeland.

B) They wonder how long it will be before they can return to Laos.

C) They discuss how to survive in America.

D) They trade family gossip and catch up.

8. How does Yang explain the family members’ reaction to the professional wrestling programs they grow to love?

A) They understand the idea that the “good guy” may lose, and the “bad guy” will cheat.

B) As a warrior culture, they appreciate all combat artforms.

C) Even without fluent knowledge of English, the programs are easy to follow.

D) They appreciate performative storytelling.

9. What primary role does Yang’s grandmother play in the family in the US?

A) She lives far away, but keeps everyone informed through letters.

B) She is the family member who gives the best advice about living in America.

C) She serves as midwife to all the children born since leaving Laos.

D) She preserves the culture by sharing stories, remedies, and traditions with family.

10. In what ways might the moldy, ghost-infested house be symbolic of the family’s transition to life in the US?

A) The dangers in America are unseen and hard to believe in, like mold and ghosts.

B) Life in the US looks beautiful on the outside, like the house, but is problematic inside.

C) The US did not honor or take care of its allies, like the former tenants of the house.

D) Unseen things in the home and the US make the Yang family sick and fearful.

11. What is the symbolic significance of the elephant bracelet Yang receives while sick?

A) Ivory from elephant tusks is a prized medicine.

B) The elephants represent her family gathering around her to protect her.

C) Elephants remember the past and are led by strong matriarchs like Yang’s grandma.

D) Elephants represent the potential for healing under her doctor’s care.

12. How does grandma’s story of the old woman who became a tiger reflect themes of the Hmong people’s story?

A) The old woman has no choice, so she becomes a tiger for survival.

B) The old woman refuses to assimilate even as she becomes a tiger.

C) The old woman chooses to transform and leave home for a better life.

D) The old woman is persecuted and driven from her village for being a tiger.

13. What is her grandmother’s greatest fear?

A) Leaving her sons in a foreign land when she dies

B) Falling and becoming infirm

C) Dying and being unable to return in spirit to Laos

D) Being lost from her family in a crowded place

14. Besides being the oldest member of the family and deeply loved by all, why is Yang’s grandmother’s death so significant for the family?

A) She will guide them all back to Laos when they die.

B) She is allowed only limited visitors, so fate determines who is present for her death.

C) She is the only one who can still speak Hmong.

D) She is the first to die naturally and have a full funeral since before the war.

15. What is the clearest theme of her grandma’s eulogy?

A) Perseverance and strength in life and death

B) Survival due to extensive family ties

C) Delayed homecoming

D) Hope for future generations of Hmong

Long Answer

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

1. What accounts for Yang’s feelings of isolation and frustration at school?

2. Yang states at the beginning of the narrative that the purpose of her writing is to find herself and the Hmong as a people. In what ways does her story succeed?