{"id":2074,"date":"2019-04-21T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/?p=2074"},"modified":"2023-09-30T12:03:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T16:03:47","slug":"lit-literature-internment-by-samira-ahmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/lit-literature-internment-by-samira-ahmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Internment: Why Your Student Will Love This Novel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Internment<\/em> by Samira Ahmed is a daring novel–one that addresses hate, Nationalism, and blind loyalty. It’s engaging, relevant, and timely. If you’re considering teaching Internment<\/em>, I encourage you to do so!<\/strong> In this post, I hope to help explain what makes Internment<\/em> a great choice for a whole class novel study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is Internment All About?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I read Ahmed’s Love, Hate, & Other Filters<\/em> last year when it came out and loved it! So, when Internment<\/a> <\/em>and its premise was announced, I preordered it and (im)patiently waited for its arrival. It did not disappoint.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story takes place “fifteen seconds” in the future. Immigration policies and anti-Islam fear-mongering have escalated.<\/strong> Muslims are under a curfew; their books are being burned; Layla fears that it could get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all she wants to do is live her life. She misses being able to spend time with her boyfriend David without punishment or stigma. Hell, she even misses attending school. <\/strong>Meanwhile, the president continues to drone on about the dangers of the Islam threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems like it can’t get any worse until one night men come for Layla and her parents. After only a few minutes to pack, Layla, her mother, and her father are whisked off in the middle of the night to Camp Mobius–an internment camp for Muslims.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long will they have to stay? What is going on outside of the camp? Will Layla ever see David again?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teaching Internment: Relevancy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Layla’s story is a powerful one because it’s so relevant for students<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, she is just like them.<\/strong> She’s a teenager not above sneaking around to see her boyfriend. She tries to do well in school and make her parents happy, all while feeling that they don’t totally “get” her. Layla is a Muslim American–emphasis on American–teen who just wants to live a normal life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of our students know what it’s like to be labeled an enemy by the government. We have enough students with diverse backgrounds, whose families have felt targeted by immigration laws, or who have feared ICE coming for their loved ones. Layla’s situation falls too close to our students’ own fears for comfort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, Internment<\/em><\/a> is ultimately an empowering social justice story.<\/strong> At the end of the novel, the actions of a few brave teenagers who dare to speak up save lives. Teaching Internment<\/em> <\/a>shows students that their voices and actions do have power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They, too, can change the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your students will immediately make real-world connections. The dystopian element makes those connections easier to discuss in a classroom setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n