Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata Reading comprehension questions: please type your responses to each of the following questions.

Please make sure you identify which chapter you are composing responses to as well as the title of the book below your heading. Chapter 1 1. Who is Sumiko? 2. What is Sumikos job? 3. Why does Sumiko work so hard at her job? Chapter 2 1. How did Sumikos parents die? 2. What does it mean to be Nikkei? 3. When and where is this story taking place? (Setting) Chapter 3 1. Why doesnt Sumiko attend a Japanese school? 2. List and describe the people in Sumikos family. 3. What gift does Uncle get for Sumiko to take to the party? Chapter 4 1. Why was Sumiko uninvited at the party? How does Sumiko respond? 2. Why do you think Sumiko lies when her Uncle and Jichan ask her about the party? 3. Who does Sumiko confide in? Why? Chapter 5 1. What news did Mr. Hirata bring? How does the family react? 2. Why does Auntie say, Well have to burn our things(48)? 3. Why does the family think something could happen to them because of their being Japanese? Chapter 6 1. What began to happen to the Issei and other leaders of the Japanese community the day after Pearl Harbor? Why? 2. Why were Uncle and Jichan taken?

Chapter 7 1. Describe what Christmas was like for Sumiko that year (1941) and why it was like that. Chapter 8 1. What does Sumiko mean when she says, Either way, they were doomed(67). 2. Where were Uncle and Jichan? 3. How were the Nikkei residents persecuted? Why were they being persecuted? 4. Make a connection to another text we have read this year regarding persecution. How are these two texts similar? Different? Chapter 9 1. What does Sumiko mean when she says, Their house had become a store(73)? 2. Who is Baba and what happened to her? 3. What does Sumiko lie to Tak-Tak about and why? Chapter 10 1. Why doesnt the trucks buyer meet anyones gaze head-on? What does this tell us about how he feels? 2. According to Sumiko, what does the community look like as they head to the evacuation location? Chapter 11 1. Describe their new home. What are the living conditions? Chapter 12 1. Are they well fed? Find a quotation that supports your response. Be sure to include the page number. 2. Why does Mrs. Ono cry? 3. After Sumiko climbs onto the roof with some other kids, some of them start crying. Why? 4. Where do Sumiko and her family learn they are being shipped?

Chapter 13 1. While they are on the train, what is Sumiko talking about when it says, she didnt understand why he had done something that wouldnt change anything at all(98)? What had happened? Why had the man done something? Why do you think the man did what he did? 2. What does Sumiko experience that causes her to feel claustrophobic? Why does she feel this way? Chapter 14 1. Describe Poston and their barracks. 2. Who is Mr. Moto? Chapter 15 1. The Japanese traditionally are a culture based on respect. How has being placed in internment camps changed families and the concept of respect? Find a quote that supports your response. Be sure to include the page number. 2. After realizing they share the camp with Indians, there are several stereotypes used. What are some of the stereotypes that each group thinks about the other? Chapter 16 1. What does Sumiko mean when she says, Now she was rich in time but had nothing to do(125)? 2. What does it mean to be an inu? What happened to the inu? Why? Chapter 17 1. Who is Frank and why is he angry? 2. How are Franks and Sumikos situations similar? How are they different? Chapter 18 1. What does Mr. Moto propose to Sumiko? 2. Why does Sumiko suggest they need to order cheesecloth? Chapter 19 1. What did Sumiko decide that the soil needed? How did she get it? 2. How did the people of Poston plan to make their new community completely self-sustaining? What does it mean to be self-sustaining?

Chapter 20 1. In September of that year there is news that now the government wants some of the Nikkei to leave. Why is this? What is happening to make it necessary to use even the labor of the Nikkei? 2. Why does the Office of Indian Affairs now want the Japanese Americans to stay? 3. What does Frank mean when he says, Youre not the first people to lose things(160)? Chapter 21 1. How has Sumikos idea of friendship changed in the time she has been at Poston? Why? Include a quotation that supports your response. Chapter 22 1. Why is Sumiko worried? 2. How does Sumiko react to the yellow ribbon? What does yellow symbolize? Chapter 23 1. How does Sumiko feel about lying? Why? 2. Why are Auntie and Ichiro arguing about why they are in the camp? Which do you believe? Why? Chapter 24 1. What does Mr. Moto believe is the problem with the young men in camp? Why? 2. What happened to the chicken? Why? Chapter 25 1. What happened to Frank? Why? 2. How did Sumiko react to the incident with Frank? Chapter 26 1. What does Sumiko do that accidentally makes it worse for Kenji? Chapter 27 1. Who does Sumiko want Bill to meet? Why? 2. Why does Tak-Tak think they are orphans? Are they? Explain.

Chapter 28 1. What do Bull and Joseph talk about? 2. Why cant the Indians vote? 3. What do Sumiko and Frank each want to do when they grow up? 4. What are Sumikos and Franks nicknames for each other? Why do you think they call each other these names? Chapter 29 1. What happens as a result of the news that Miss Kelly shares with the students, Every man or woman in camp ages seventeen or older will be required to fill out a questionnaire in preparation for instituting a military draft of young Nisei men(224)? How do the Japanese Americans react? Chapter 30 1. What announcement does Auntie make? How does Sumiko react? Why? 2. Describe the dilemma facing Japanese Americans who have left the camps. Chapter 31 1. Explain the irony of the U.S. government drafting young Nisei men. Why is this ironic? 2. Why does Sumiko go to visit her Uncle Kenzo? What is his response? 3. Why is Sumiko angry at Auntie? Where have Bull and Ichiro gone? What does Bull leave behind? Chapter 32 1. Why has Frank been unable to meet Sumiko in the bean tunnel? 2. What does Frank mean when he says, you dont know much about friendship, do you (246)? Chapter 33 1. What happens to make Sumiko decide she would leave camp with Auntie? 2. Just before they leave camp, Frank arrives. What does he give Sumiko? 3. How has Sumiko changed during her time at the camp?