Jolin's In the Name of God explores a very complex and current world issue. Especially with the rise of fear mongering by political figures such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, it is important for students to get a compassionate glimpse into the lives of Muslim people in other countries. Most students get their information and opinions from their parents, which is expected. However, I think that it essential for school to open up new perspectives and beliefs. Students are then able to use their critical thinking skills to determine a stance on an particular subject. For example, if a school is in a suburban and white neighborhood, students are probably not exposed to many Muslim peers. This book would be a good start to help students get a more global view of the world. It would also be a good book to introduce students to unreliable narrators, since our narrator feels so strongly and her beliefs are so black and white. Students would be able to see, through the narrator, that the radical Muslim issues are much more complex than they are generally taught. Through the people around Nadia, we see what Islam should look like, and that it can be a positive and modern religion.
In this unit, students could explore their own religion or lack thereof and write a personal narrative about how they found or lost their religion or spirituality. They could also write an informative essay about an assigned religion and literary compounds of that religion. This book opens up many different opportunities for not only literary elements, but current world issue discussions and activities.
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