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| Concord Reads 2010 |
Questions for Discussion
Funny in Farsi
1. The theme of Funny in Farsi is “shared humanity.” What does that mean to you?
2. How would our communities, both locally and globally, be different if we saw our commonalities before our differences?
3. Most Americans’ perception of the Middle East is limited to what is shown on the evening news. Since only bad news is news, how does this affect the perception of Middle Eastern immigrants in this country? Can the same be said of other countries and their immigrants?
4. Immigrants often do not try to be a part of American society, preferring instead to spend time with their own compatriots. What can be done to encourage assimilation?
5. Should immigrants speak their native language at home?
6. Who was the most recent immigrant in your family? How did he or she come to grips with American culture?
7. Firoozeh’s book is intended to be humorous without being mean. Do think this book achieved its objective?
Laughing Without an Accent
1. Firoozeh
says that humor differs from one culture to the next, but it also varies from
person to person. Is there something that you find hilarious that others don’t?
2. In Laughing Without an Accent, Firoozeh uses humor to tackle
some very difficult topics–like the death of a loved one in “Seyyed Abdullah
Jazayeri,” or Iranian censorship of her previous book in “Funny in Persian.” Do
you believe humor is appropriate in all situations? Or are there times when it
is not appropriate?
3. Cultural norms are very different from country to country, such as all
middle-class families having servants in Iran, unlike in the United States.
After reading Laughing Without an Accent, which stood out for you? Are
there any from other cultures that you have encountered that surprised you?
4. In “The Jester and I,” a slightly misused word causes a great mix-up. Discuss
a time when language barriers or mishaps have caused confusion for you.
5. In “My Achilles’ Meal,” we see that Firoozeh’s parents felt she was too young
to deal with the death of her grandmother. Each culture, and each family, deals
with death in a particular way. How does your family deal with death?
6. Everybody’s family embarrasses them. Discuss family quirks that cause you to
cringe.
7. How would you feel if someone accused you of wrongdoing, or disliked you
simply because of where you are from? How does the media’s portrayal of people
from different countries shape how people feel about them?
8. “Most immigrants agree that at some point, we become permanent foreigners,
belonging neither here nor there.” If you are an immigrant yourself, or the
child of an immigrant, do you agree with that statement? If you are not, what
could you do to help the immigrants in your community feel at home?
9. What does the term “global citizen” mean to you? Do we have to lose something
to become a global citizen, or do we simply gain? Firoozeh was born in Iran and
raised in the United States, and is married to a Frenchman. She
considers herself a global citizen. But how can others become global
citizens? Does it involve living in another culture, or can we simply learn to
think globally?
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