Funny in Farsi– Reader Response Overview
Your Reader Response Journal will consist of six responses.
1) Leffingwell Elementary School, Hot Dogs and Wild Geese, In the Gutter, and Save Me, Mickey
2) Swoosh-Swoosh, With a Little Help from My Friends, Bernice, and A Dozen Key Chains
3) You Can Call Me Al, Of Mosquitoes and Men, The “F Word”, and Waterloo
4) America, Land of the Free, The Ham Amendment, Treasure Island, It’s All Relatives, Me and Bob Hope
5) I Ran and I Ran and I Ran, I-raynians Need Not Apply, Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, Joyeuse Noelle,
The Wedding
6) I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet, A Nose by Any Other Name, Judges Paid Off, If I Were a Rich
Man
Your personal responses should reflect the following things:
− You have read the work with a high level of comprehension.
− You have given the work a fair amount of time and you have thought about what you’ve read.
− You have recorded your thoughts spontaneously as you were actively engaged in the reading
process. Don’t allow any insights or questions to slip away from you!
You cannot be wrong in your personal responses to the text, so take risks and be honest.
− Write down what you like or dislike, what seems confusing or unusual.
− Tell what you think something means.
− Make predictions about what you think might happen later in the story.
− Look for and cite examples of writing that you particularly like or dislike; explain and discuss.
− Connect the story, characters, setting, theme, etc. to something from your life, something from
another text, or something from the wider world.
Possible lead-ins for personal responses:
− I wonder what this means…
− I really don’t understand this part because…
− This character reminds me of somebody I know because…
− I think this setting is important because…
− This section is particularly effective because…
− This aspect of the author’s style is intriguing because…
SEE BACK FOR EXAMPLES! Every PERSONAL RESPONSE must include 3 WORDS you are unfamiliar with. Look them up and define
them in your own words. Be sure to use the definition that works for that context!
Chapters 1-4 Example
Type of Response
Supporting Quote
My Response
In story #1, Firoozeh moves from
Iran to California. After a very
awkward first day of school, she
and her mom get lost but are
treated very kind by kindhearted,
helpful Americans.
Summarize
Not needed
New Word #1
“suitor” p. 5
New Word #2
“prestigious” p. 4
I think this word means important
or fancy.
New Word #3
“progressive” p. 5
In this context I think the word
means forward thinking.
Prediction
“the people were very, very kind”
p. 7
I predict Firoozeh will have many
more encounters with friendly
Americans.
Firoozeh and her mom could not
communicate with the teacher
Firoozeh’s first day reminded me
of traveling in Italy and not being
able to communicate with
strangers because I did not speak
Italian.
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
“that is how at age seventeen my
mother officially gave up her
dreams, married my father, and
had a child by the end of the year”
p. 5
“I was especially mad at my
mother, because she had negated
the positive impression I had made
previously by reciting the color
wheel” p. 6
I think this word means people
who wanted to marry her.
Is it normal for all Iranian women
to get married at this age? Is it
normal for most Iranian women to
be uneducated or was this just in
the 1960’s?
Humorous/Sarcastic—I wonder if
all of the other vignettes will have
a similar tone—Firoozeh seems
funny.
Chapters 1-4 (pages 3-23)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response
Chapter 5-8 (pages 24-49)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response
Chapters 9-12 (pages 50-73)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response
Chapters 13-17 (pages 74-110)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response
Chapters 18-22 (pages 111-153)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response
Chapters 23-26 (pages 154-187)
Type of Response
Summarize
New Word #1
New Word #2
New Word #3
Prediction
Text-to-Self
Question
martyrs
Tone
Supporting Quote
Not needed
My Response