Name: Jodi Cogburn
Goodbye, Vietnam Gloria Whelan
Novel Study
Total Points Possible 110
Complete all parts to the novel unit in digital format. Due Date 5/25
Part I: The Village
Vocabulary (7pts)
Using context clues and the dictionary define the following vocabulary words:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Thatched- to cover something with
Reverently- respect
Kowtowed- an act of the Chinese
layers
Sorcery- remarkable powers
when they bowed to respect or
Midwife- a woman who helps the
pray to their ancestors
mothers’ deliver babies
Veneration- been there for a long
period of time
Infirmities- problems that are wrong
Reading Check (7pts.)
a. When did Mai’s sister, Anh, begin having nightmares?
The nightmares had started when police had come to their
house and threatened to take their grandmother away
b. Why did the police threaten to arrest Mai’s grandmother?
They said that she is full of dangerous superstition
c. Mai’s father has a secret skill. What is it?
He is a secret mechanic
d. Why does Mai’s grandmother call her “number-two child”?
Mai’s grandmother calls her “number-two child” because no one
is called number-one child; this is a clever trick to confuse the
evil spirits that wish to harm young children and that are
particularly eager to injure the eldest
e. What do Mai and her siblings discover in the Chans’ store?
Mai and her siblings find their possessions in the Chans’ store
f. What does Mai’s grandmother sneak into her basket?
Mai’s grandmother snuck the two Tet ducks into her basket
Understanding Characterization (8 pts)
Use the chart below to explain how you can tell what effect leaving has on the members
of Mai’s family.
 In the first column, describe the character
 In the center column, writer how each character feels.

In the right-hand column, write how you can tell what they are feeling.
Character Description
Mai
Mai’s father
How he or she feels
She feels like her
family is still sitting
back in their house
drinking their evening
tea when she looks
back at the house
So I guess she’s sad
I guess he’s okay
with it
Mai’s mother
She’s sad
Mai’s grandmother
She’s sad and kind of
mad
How you can tell
I can tell because she,
like the rest of her
father, is scared and
sad of leaving their
house behind
He’s okay with it
because he knows
that they’re going to
be safe and fine
She’s sad because
they are leaving all
their possessions
behind and all their
memories in their
house
She’s mad because
their leaving the
house that was her
husband’s and her
husband’s father’s
house behind
She’s sad because
they’re leaving the
altars of their
ancestors uncared for
Part II: The Journey
Vocabulary (13pts.)
Using context clues and the dictionary define the following vocabulary words:
Chaper 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Listless- restless, tired, Hospitable- cared for
Illuminated- lighted very
Professor- a person who brightly
worn-out, lazy
Shabby- damp, dark,
Ballast- another word
worked in an
run-down
university
for the hold
Gawk- stare endlessly
Material- colored fabric
Desperate- having an
Mourning- sad
at something
urgent need
Crafty- artsy, arranged
Outstretched- far away
Indicating- gesturing,
telling
Reading Check (6pts.)
a. Why does Mai’s grandmother offer one of her ducks to a policeman?
Because so the officer wouldn’t see the tools hidden in Mai’s
father’s basket
b. What happens to the family’s money in Go Cong?
It goes toward food so the family can eat
c. What does bac si mean?
Bac si means that it’s a title that indicates honor is due the
person
d. What valuable object does Kim have?
A flute
e. How do Bac si Hong and Kim get on board the boat?
Bac si Hong and Kim get to board the boat because Kim played
her flute
f. On the boat, who decides that the family should stay on deck?
Bac si Hong
Comparing and Contrasting (9pts.)
Fill in the area to compare and contrast Mai’s family with Bac si Hong and Kim. This is
like a venn diagram.
MAI’S FAMILY
Mai’s mother tries to
be calm sometimes
Mai’s father is still
alive
LIKENESSES
Bac si Hong and Mai’s
grandmother both say
orders that everyone
follows
BAC SI HONG AND KIM
Bac si Hong is a
doctor
Kim’s father is dead
Bac si Hong is usually
strict
Part III: The Voyage
Vocabulary (17pts.)
Using context clues and the dictionary define the following vocabulary words:
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
AccusingDisappointment- Injection- a
Impatient- not Perspire- to
indicating a angry, upset process in
very patient give out
Venerate- to
belief in
Lunar- of or
which you
sweat
someone’s
regard with
inject a
related to
through the
guilt
great
liquid into
the moon
pores of the
Ration- a
Quarrelingrespect
the body
skin
Reassure- to
fixed
fighting,
allowance
on
something
Disappearedvanished,
invisible
Navigatingsearch
Exclaimedshouted,
yelled
restore to
assurance or
confidence
Fretted- to
feel or
express
worry
yelling
Ceremony- a
formal
occasion
Paralyzed- to
affect with
paralysis
Skeptical- not
easily
convinced
Reading Check (6pts.)
a. Why does Bac si Hong give a pill to Mai’s mother?
Because bac si Hong told Mai’s mother that it will take away the
sickness
b. What happened to Kim’s father?
He taught at a university, but he would not teach what the
government wanted hin to, and so he was sent to work in the
fields
He wasn’t used to such work and he became very sick
They sent him home, but Kim’s mother’s medicines couldn’t
help him and he died
c. How did Loi wind up floating in the sea?
Pirates has sunk Loi’s uncle’s fishing boat
d. Why does Mai’s grandmother share her duck with everyone on the boat?
So everyone could have a taste
e. What does Loi catch with his fishing net?
A turtle
f. What do Loi and Captain Muoi disagree about?
Loi wanted to change the course of the boat
Loi insisted he was right because of the position of the stars
and where the moon rose at night and the sun set and the way
the winds blew
Finding Cause and Effect (4pts.)
A cause is why something happens. An effect is what happens. Keeping track of the
causes and effects can help you sort out the details of the story.
Complete the chart with information about causes and effects.
Cause
Effect
People begin to talk about all of the bad
Even if the voyage is dangerous
things the government has done to them
and uncomfortable, at least
and their families.
everyone can speak their
thoughts out loud
Cause
The boat springs a leak.
Cause
Mai and Kim spot Loi, who is clinging to a
bit of wreckage on the water.
Cause
Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, arrives.
Effect
It was necessary to move some
people in the hold to the deck,
making things even more
crowded than they had been
before
People had to sit with their knees
pressed against their chests and
their arms clasped around their
knees
A chain of men were organized to
bail the boat out
Pails of water were passed up
from the hold and dumped over
the sides of the boat
Effect
Everyone tried to scramble to the
rails to see what Mai and Kim are
talking about
Effect
Everyone’s happy and makes up
with all the people they had bad
attitudes with before
Part IV: The Silver City
Vocabulary (3pts.)
Using context clues and the dictionary define the following vocabulary words:
Chapter 11
Chapter 14
Commotion- a state of confused and Epidemics- a widespread
noisy disturbance
occurrence of disease
Imitate- take or follow as a model
Reading Check (6pts.)
a. What do people in the harbor shout to the boat?
They shout “Go back to where you came from. You are not
wanted here.”
b. Why are the lights in the warehouse always kept on?
The lights are always on because there are thieves, and if they
turned off the lights, no one would dare to sleep
c. What does Loi give Mai before he returns to Vietnam?
Kim’s flute
d. Why does Kim come to stay with Mai’s family?
Because Kim’s mother says there are people with cholera
e. What happens to allow Mai’s family to go to the United States?
Diep Van Tien’s family agrees to sponsor Mai’s family
f. Whom does Mai’s family meet on the bus to the airplane?
Kim’s mother
Summarizing (4pts.)
In Hong Kong, a great deal happens in the warehouse before Mai and her family leave
for the United States.
 Choose four important events that happen in the warehouse.
 Write the events in chronological order in the chart.
Mai’s family arrives at the warehouse.
A lot of people become sick with cholera
Kim’s mother gets sent to another camp without Kim because she
tried to help a man with cholera
Kim has to stay with Mai’s family
Mai’s family was happy when they found out that Diep Van Tien is
going to sponsor them
Mai’s family leaves for the United States.
Choice Activity (20pts.)
Choice and complete one of the following:
 Letter Writing from Mai: Before the novel begins, Mai’s uncle, Diep Van Tien,
has escaped from Vietnam. A postcard that he sent from Hong Kong to Mai’s
family has become a very important piece of their lives; its picture and words give
Mai hope. What do you think Mai would like to tell her uncle about her own
journey to freedom? Write a series of letters from Mai to Diep Van Tien. Tell Tien
about Mai’s experiences and about what his example means to her. Write at
least four letters, one for each section of the novel.
 A Map of a Voyage: Mai and her family undertake a journey that leads them from
a small Vietnamese village in the Mekong Delta to the city of Go Cong, and
across the sea to Hong Kong. Construct a detailed map of the journey. Locate
important settings from the novel, including Mai’s village, the house of Quah Loc,
and the warehouse in Hong Kong. Plot the route of Captain Muoi’s boat and
identify the spot where Loi is rescued. Research the geography of Vietnam and
Hong Kong, and include on the map information about the land, its features, and
its climate. Be creative!
Grading Rubric for Goodbye, Vietnam by: Gloria Whelan
Date Due 5/25
Part I
Vocabulary
7pts
___________
Reading Check
7pts
___________
Understanding Characterization
8pts
___________
Part II
Vocabulary
13pts
___________
Reading Check
Comparing and Contrasting
Part III
Vocabulary
Reading Check
Finding Cause and Effect
Part IV
Vocabulary
Reading Check
Summarizing
6pts
9pts
___________
___________
17pts
6pts
4pts
___________
___________
___________
3pts
6pts
4pts
___________
___________
___________
Choice Activity
20pts
___________
Total Points 110
110pts
___________