All We Have Left

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Memorial”

In this activity, students will create a mini-memorial for 9/11.

The characters face personal losses from that day, losses that stay with them. Choose a character, a real person, or group of people to memorialize.

• Choose your focus for the memorial. Who will you honor?
• Brainstorm what you know about that person or group.
• Decide what format your memorial will take. Consider materials. Sketch or write about your plans.
• Create your memorial.

Display your memorial in the class, and then journal about how your memorial connects to the novel. After you have viewed other classmates’ memorials, journal about any lasting learnings from this activity.

Teaching Suggestion: It could be helpful to brainstorm people that students could memorialize. You might include a focus on symbolism for this project as well, with students including and explaining their use of symbolism to convey ideas. Students might work together in pairs or small groups or might present to each other or to another small group after creating their projects. This activity can lead to connections to personal losses. An extension could be to memorialize someone from students’ personal lives too.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with visual impairments, they will need to be able to create a written memorial or be partnered with another student who can create the visual aspect of the memorial.

Paired Text Extension:

The class might explore the importance of music in processing 9/11.

This resource from the Grammy Awards site discusses 10 songs where musical artists processed the 9/11 time period. 

Teaching Suggestion: Students could choose a song from this list or others they find to read and analyze. The class might also read and discuss one song together. This extension provides the opportunity to make connections, to extend the theme of The Lasting Effects of 9/11, and to practice poetry analysis.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Rock climbing features in several key scenes.

• How is rock climbing symbolic? (topic sentence)
• As you craft your essay, include at least three quotations and additional details to support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain an important lasting effect on a character.

2. Throughout the story, characters shift.

• What character grows the most? (topic sentence)
• As you write your essay, incorporate three or more quotations and other evidence to support your argument.
• In your conclusion, explain a way that a character’s growth affects others.

3. The main characters are teenagers.

• What lesson does the novel build about the theme of The Pain of Adolescence? (topic sentence)
• As you craft your analysis, include three or more quotations and additional details to support your ideas.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how accurately the novel captures that theme.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Reflect on the novel’s point of view. How do the shifting perspectives function? How does time play a role? How are Alia and Jesse connected, similar, and different? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing how the author utilizes point of view to reveal the characters and themes.

2. The events of 9/11 have cascading effects. What character is most affected by 9/11? How does the day change people? What criteria illustrates a character’s change? Craft a 3- or 5-paragraph essay explaining which character is most changed and in what ways. Connect your argument to the theme of The Lasting Effects of 9/11.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following best describes Alia’s reasons for wearing the hijab?

A) Pressure from her parents

B) Hope to stay out of trouble

C) Her grandmother’s demands

D) Devotion to her religion and faith

2. What best explains why Jesse tries to solve the mystery of what happened to her brother?

A) She feels it will help her family heal.

B) She wants to win a Pulitzer Prize.

C) She is sentenced to do so after tagging.

D) She believes he is alive and wants to confront him.

3. How do Nick and Adam differ in their treatment of Jesse?

A) Nick is compassionate; while Adam is harsh.

B) Nick uses her; while Adam supports her.

C) Nick offers her choices; while Adam decides for her.

D) Nick demands her time; while Adam gives her space.

4. What is a consequence Jesse faces for spray painting the Islam Peace Center?

A) Losing the trust of her rock climbing peers

B) Spending one month in jail

C) Having to move schools

D) A fine that leads to two jobs

5. How are Alia and Jesse connected?

A) They were both in the tower when it fell.

B) Both are Muslim and attend the Islam Peace Center.

C) Travis is important to them both.

D) At school, they had the same teacher.

6. How are Adam and Sabeen connected?

A) Best friends

B) Uncle and niece

C) Siblings

D) Rock climbing partners

7. How are Travis and Jesse similar?

A) They make mistakes, which leads to judgment and growth.

B) They both move away for school and earn scholarships.

C) They judge others based on their wealth and possessions.

D) They both harbor misconceptions about each other.

8. Which plot point best develops the theme of Family Disapproval of Romantic Relationships?

A) Hank moving away from the family for years

B) Jesse’s father saying that she is not his daughter

C) Alia’s parents refusing to allow her to attend her art program

D) Travis’ father criticizing him and refusing to speak of him

9. Which of the following causes conflicts between Jesse and her parents?

A) Her permission slip

B) Her rock climbing

C) Her graffiti

D) Her clothes

10. What best describes Jesse’s mom’s reaction when Jesse shares the clearer voicemail?

A) Shouting in anger

B) Weeping in grief

C) Staying silent in defiance

D) Laughing in joy

11. What type of figurative language does the following quotation include?: “A waft of wind brings the smell of the river, wet and salty, and I inhale all of it, the river, the faint smell of exhaust, the honey-gold air.” (Page 13, Chapter 1)

A) Irony

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Imagery

12. How does Alia change over the course of the novel?

A) Alia becomes increasingly bitter.

B) Alia retreats further into isolation.

C) Alia starts to understand the power of humor.

D) Alia realizes her strength.

13. What type of figurative language does the following quotation include?: “He comes up, and it’s like he flows up the mountain, like a waterfall going backward.” (Page 86, Chapter 10)

A) Irony

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Imagery

14. How is Alia’s relationship with her grandmother different from her relationship with her parents?

A) Alia’s relationship with her grandmother is more open and accepting.

B) Alia’s relationship with her grandmother is based on fear, not love.

C) Alia’s relationship with her grandmother is new and not as nurturing.

D) Alia’s relationship with her grandmother is increasingly complicated and unhappy.

15. Which of the following is the accurate chronological order of events?

A) Alia meets Jesse; Alia meets Travis; Jesse first rock climbs with Adam; The World Trade Center collapses.

B) The World Trade Center collapses; Alia meets Travis; Alia meets Jesse; Jesse first rock climbs with Adam.

C) Jesse first rock climbs with Adam; Alia meets Jesse; The World Trade Center collapses; Alia meets Travis.

D) Alia meets Travis; The World Trade Center collapses; Jesse first rock climbs with Adam; Alia meets Jesse.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why was Alia in the tower when the plane hit?

2. As the tower she was in collapsed, how did Alia survive?