Farewell to Manzanar Study Guide Answers

Farewell to Manzanar Study Guide Answers 1. What was the loyalty oath and how did it impact things at camp? The loyalty oath was a way for the US to try to “weed out” those disloyal to America. The oath was comprised of questions that those of Japanese descent were to answer. Answers to the questions would show your loyalty to either the US or Japan. If you were to answer “no” on the questions, you were sent to a different internment camp to most likely be sent back to Japan later. Those who answered “yes” to the questions on the oath knew that they would most likely be sent to war. We later see this happen to Woody with the draft. In camp, this caused a great deal of debate and argument amongst people in camp. When Papa and other heads of households gathered to discuss this issue, it resulted in Papa and another man fighting due to Papa being called out as an “Inu” or dog. Later the loyalty oath helped to relocate families and find sponsors away from the east coast. This alleviated some of the crowding issues in Manzanar. 2. How did Papa react to Jeanne’s attempts at becoming more “American” After Manzanar? While Jeanne wanted to look like and act like the American girls of the time, Papa wanted her to act more like the Japanese women from the early 20th century. Where she wanted to show off her figure, her father wanted her to dress modestly and demurely. Papa was displeased at how she spent her time baton twirling. He was proud of her academic achievements but did not care for her social aspirations. 3. When did the camp at Manzanar close? What were some of the events that led to Manzanar closing? Dec 1 1945. Jeanne’s family was relocated in early October of that year. Events that led to the closing of Manzanar were the case of Gordon Hirabayashi challenging the evacuation order in the Supreme Court, Fred Korematsu’s case involving evacuation and questions of bias, and Mitsue Endo, who led to the Supreme Court stating that the government cannot detain loyal citizens against their will. After these cases, it was announced that the camps would be closing. The bombing at Hiroshima led to the end of the war and further aided in the process of closing the camps. 4. In the memoir, why were people sent to the internment camps? in what area did they live before? After the bombing at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, those of Japanese ancestry were relocated to internment camps because the US didn’t trust that they were loyal to the US. Those that were relocated lived on the East coast in states such as California. 5. What is a memoir? A memoir is a piece of narrative writing that focuses in on one portion or moment from your life. It is not a broad retelling of events from your whole life as you would see in an autobiography. Memoir differs from personal narrative in that a memoir ends with a reflection on how the event impacted your life. 6. In the beginning of the story, why do Papa and the other boats come back to the harbor shortly after leaving? They return because they hear about the bombing at Pearl Harbor. 7. What job did Mama take while living at Manzanar? Mama began to work with food as a nutritionist. 8. What word did the other Japanese use for Papa at the camp after he arrived from Fort Lincoln? Why? People in the camp called Papa an Inu or dog. When Papa was at Fort Lincoln, the Justice Department found no reason to detain Papa after they investigated his record. “The rumor was that, as an interpreter, he had access to information from fellow Isseis that he later used to buy his release” (52). The people calling him an Inu were upset that he had been released earlier than most men. 9. What job did Papa have at Fort Lincoln? What impact did this have on him and the response people had towards him? As mentioned in question 8, Papa was an interpreter at Fort Lincoln. As a result of the position that he held, people whispered insults behind his back. Papa was already struggling with adjusting to life in Manzanar and had begun to drink and verbally abuse his family. These added insults created by rumors of what he did within his job to get freedom caused Papa to further sink into the depressed drunken state that he was in. 10. Why did Jeanne’s siblings move to New Jersey? Why didn’t Papa want to go there? Her siblings moved to NJ as Manzanar was closing for work opportunity on the East Coast. Factories in areas on the East Coast were hiring those who had been in the internment camps. Her siblings saw opportunity to have life here. Papa didn’t want to go to NJ to work in the factor because he had always work for himself. He had created a life before doing his own business and it would have shamed him to work in a factory. 11. What activities did Papa do in camp? He spent a lot of time outdoors. He enjoyed to hike and would bring back driftwood that he would make furniture and decorations with. Papa also began painting with watercolors. 12. What did Papa’s parents in Japan think of their son? They thought he was dead. 13. What happened to Woody? Where did he go? Woody was drafted into the military. While he was away, he ended up in Japan and met his family there. 14. What is Jeanne’s relationship to Manzanar? Jeanne was sent to Manzanar with her family as a young child. Her experiences in Manzanar are, in her adult life, hard for her to reflect back on. At times, she has a hard time believing everything they experienced was real. When she meets a photographer who was at Manzanar taking photos, she ends up dealing with a lot of emotions that are brought up regarding Manzanar. 15. What happened in the mess halls that changed the families? Why did this happen? Families stopped eating together. People began to eat with friends and others their age or to travel to other mess halls to try the food. This resulted in family unit losing some of the bond that held them together. 16. Describe some of the difficulties Jeanne and others experienced trying to live as Japanese Americans. They experienced a great deal of prejudice. They were not allowed to be a part of groups within schools and could not be seen as the “face” of their school. This means that there were certain activities that they were not allowed to take part in. They were also excluded from groups such as girl scouts and boy scouts. In the novel, when Jeanne becomes carnival queen, this is a huge deal in the school and school officials tried to rig the votes to keep her from representing them. 17. Discuss the racism towards Asians in the early to mid 20th century as depicted in the book. Some examples can be found in question 16. Other examples are: - Papa’s belongings were taken or stolen while they were at camp leaving him with nothing as they began to try to start again. - Papa was judged by those at the banquet for Jeanne when he bowed traditionally to the people. - Jeanne and Kiyo were told by a woman that all of the dirty japs needed to go back to Japan. - Japanese were not allowed to operate commercial fishing boats. 18. Describe Jeanne’s experience revisiting the camp. As Jeanne revisited the camp, she noticed the desolate state of everything. She saw that everything was crumbling and falling apart. As her children’s faces became chapped by the wind, she thought about how this was no place for children. She thought about where they used to live, and saw trees that were still somehow surviving and about to bloom. The experience was incredibly emotional for her and it took her many years to work up to actually returning. 19. Describe some of the hardships and difficulties her family faced at Manzanar. -Tiny living quarters -Bad food -Inadequate health care -Limited furnishings -Bad septic systems -Holes in walls -Judgement from others in relation to her father -etc.