Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

Henry Hold and Co, 1992

Summary: Rifka and her family escape from Russia in 1919. Her letters to Tovah, the friend she left behind, trace their flight to America in journal fashion. Rifka's courage and spirit form a counterpart to the hardships and humiliations the family endures. Based on the experiences of the author's great-aunt.

Level: R.L. Grade 4.5,
I.L. Grades 4-adult

Themes:

immigration and refugees

Jews and persecution

letters and journals

Activities:

1.List and then discuss, in a group, positive and negative comments or information about America you can find in Letters from Rifka. Each group member then reads a book about other immigrants to America or to Canada and make similar lists. As a group, discuss the lists. Classify the kinds of things listed. Come to some conclusions and prepare a presentation with your original findings from Rifka and your final conclusions. How might these conclusions effect the lives of your classmates? Tell them ways they can deal positively with similar situations. Make part of your presentation a chart about your community or state, similar to that above. Start with a picture that is symbolic, and include two kinds of sayings (positive and negative) that people might think if they had never been there and had merely heard about it. Find a useful way to incorporate this chart into your presentation.

2. Make a glossary for the book with at least ten words that were unfamiliar to you, with their meanings and the page numbers where they may be found. If possible, design a Hypercard stack for this glossary. You may include drawings, examples, explanations. Alphabetize your list. After your glossary has been approved by your teacher or librarian, place a printed copy in a special pocket in the back or the front of the book. If someone has already made a glossary, you can add to it. If it is a Hypercard stack, add your contributions, and substitute a new, alphabetized print-out in the book pocket. (Each entry should include the contributor's name.)

3. Two diseases strike Rifka - Typhus and Ringworm. An estimated 3 million people in Russia died in a Typhus epidemic during the revolutionary period after World War I ended in 1918. (From World Book, 1987, Volume 19, p. 445.) From information in Letters from Rifka, write a description of each, including its causes and how it is contracted, symptoms, treatment, length of illness, seriousness, lasting effects. Check this information through research. Is it accurate for 1919? Add any information that was missing in your original descriptions, indicating your sources like the World Book reference above. Write a separate paragraph on which aspects of these diseases have changed since 1919. Explain. Also add the history and prevalence of these diseases in your locality. What are the chances of YOU contracting one of these diseases? (HINT: for the most current information, check your information with a local doctor, hospital, or medical library.) If an epidemic of one of these diseases DID occur in your locality, what preventive measures could you take?

4. The clothes that Rifka's family and other immigrants brought to America were often unique to their land of birth. These clothes were reminders that they were now separated from all that they had ever known and loved - people, places, and events of a life that was now past. Parts of such cloth were sometimes made into "keeping quilts". To design your own keeping quilts, group members may begin by thinking about the people, places, and events of their lives. Each member should 'collect (by making a list, perhaps with sketches) materials -- scarves and ties, curtains and tablecloths, pillow covers and articles of clothing that you don't ever want to forget. Now plan each quilt; the design of the quilts themselves can serve as a part of the memory. Use large sheets of construction paper, 18" x 24". Fill in the design and border with recreated patterns and colors of the 'collected' materials. On other sheets the same size, make a 'key' or 'legend' for the quilts. Start with a column of 1" or 2" squares, each filled with the pattern and color of one of the chosen materials. Next to each square write an explanation of what it represents and why it was selected. Plan a group bulletin board display. Attach the 'keys' to the wall first, then attach the quilt designs directly on top of them so that viewers can flip up the quilt designs and read the explanations underneath. On signs beside each quilt, write a few statements to pique the viewer's curiosity and interest in examining the quilt and learning the origins and meanings of the various patterns. One student may wish to design a quilt for Rifka, using blue and black velvet from her Belgian hat, a pattern from Saul's knickers, one from father's prayer shawl, and so on.

5. Rifka carries with her during her escape a favorite book of Alexander Pushkin's poetry, and writes many of her letters in the margins of its pages. Also, each chapter of Letters from Rifka begins with a quote from this same Russian poet and writer. He has been referred to as the 'Russian Shakespeare' because he began writing in everyday language and because his work was critical about the social, political, and intellectual life in his country. His independence of spirit and his hope and longing for 'freedom' are easy to find in the selections chosen for Letters from Rifka. They mirror Rifka's own personality, and reflect the time of year, what is happening to Rifka, and how she is feeling. With a group of students, explore and discuss the relationship between the quotations from Pushkin and the chapters they introduce. Now choose a book that you'd like to persuade other students to read, and divide your group into two sections. Section one will choose poems or parts of poems to introduce each chapter. Section two will find famous quotations from Bartlettts Quotations or other sources of quotations that could serve the same purpose. Each section will then present its choices and the reasons for each of them to the other section. The sections should share successful search and selection strategies and solutions of search problems; key words, sources, distilling of chapter content, choice of poet, for example. The group will then plan and present a program intended to persuade other students to read this book. The heart of this program will be presenting the introductory poetry and quotes for three chapters of your chosen book with clear explanations of your reasons.

6. Mama asks Rifka to bring along her two brass candlesticks. They are soon stolen. When Rifka reaches America, she arranges to give her mother new ones. Find out and explain their importance to Rifka and her mother. Describe in detail how these candlesticks will be used by Mama.

7. With a group, go through Letters from Rifka and figure out exactly where and when and how Rifka got to each point toward her destination of New York City. Now divide into three sections. One section will create a large wall map of Rifka's journey. Instead of a line, use symbols for different modes of transportation she used. Find a way to indicate which language or languages were spoken at each point. The second section will create a timeline, using the computer program Timeliner if possible, of Rifka's life from September 2, 1919 to October 22, 1920. The third section will research world events that occurred during those 13 months that would help readers of Letters from Rifka understand that period of time better. A timeline will be made using those events. These two timelines should be hung adjacent to the wall map. A third timeline, a merger of the first two, should be color-coded and hung with them.

If this project has already been completed, a group can read other fictional books about refugees and use the above format for their project. The map and timelines about Rifka's journey can be models for later projects. See list of resources for some examples.

8. A group will list the problems Jews faced in Russia in 1919 as indicated in Letters from Rifka. Create some subgroups, or categories, of these problems. Also list where Rifka and her family got help, from individuals and groups, and what that help consisted of. Make subgroups of these also. Now split your group into sections. Each section report to each other, and jointly decide on a presentation that includes the best information from each group.

Section 1: Research the history of Jewish persecution in Russia and prepare a before, during, and after 1920 presentation of the reasons or causes, the effects on Jews, and what kinds of things Jews did about these situations, in each of these time periods.

Section 2: From the Red Cross, find out what help they give refugees today. Are they aiding any Jewish groups? From the Task Force on Soviet Jewry, find out the situation regarding Russian Jewish refugees today. What kinds of help is the Task Force providing? If possible, locate a recent Russian Jewish immigrant or immigrant family and speak or visit with them, or have them visit your school. Or both. Try contacting local Rabbis, or the two following agencies.
1. The Task Force on Soviet Jewry, which is part of the Jewish Commission on Social Action, which is part of:

Union of American Hebrew Congregations. 838 5th AV, New York, NY 10021. Phone 212-249-0100. Contact persons would be Betty Golomb or Constance Kreshtool.

2. New England Regional Office of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations,

1330 Beacon Street, 

										Suite 355, 
Brookline, MA, 02146. 
 
Phone 617-277-1655.

										Contact person - Jonathan Cohen.    

9. Rifka suffered many forms of discrimination because she was a Jew and was treated as a Jewish stereotype. She also became aware that she and her family thought of other groups, 'peasants', 'soldiers', as stereotypes. Rifka changed, and acted upon her new understandings. Her new understandings led her to say, on page 117,
"I am Jewish, yes, but I am Russian too. I am both Jewish and Russian. And I am also more. I am so much more."
With a group, discuss what caused her to change and how she acted upon her new understandings. Also discuss how she was discriminated against. (You may wish to explore the reports from #8 and talk to the students who worked on it). Group plan a program for "Unlearning Jewish Stereotypes" for an audience you have discussed with your teacher; your class, a parent group, another grade. You may begin by studying materials for dealing with prejudice and for unlearning Chicano and Puerto Rican, or Asian, or Indian, Sexual, Black, or Handicapped Stereotypes.

[One source is the Council on Interracial Books for Children, Inc.,
1841 Broadway,
New York, N Y, 10023.]

How are these programs designed? Do they contain any ideas you can use for your program? [Note: We have not found any published programs for unlearning Jewish stereotypes. Please contact the Information Skills Committee through the Maine State Library Media Services if you know of any.] Find ways to involve your audience. For instance, you might begin your program with a short questionnaire you have designed. Have your program address the topics in the questionnaire, and provide opportunities during or afterwards for your audience to relate their responses to each other and to connect them to your program. Make sure that YOU understand the meaning of 'stereotype' and that by the end of your program your audience understands its meaning also. The final section of your program should deal with two things; which ideas in your program could be used to approach ANY kind of discrimination, and how this translates into a list of human rights. ( Part of your group may work on a list of children's rights and responsibilities.)

10. Read Karen Hesse's letter and accompanying information. Pay special attention to her comments about the research she does when writing fiction. Now read student research about Jewish Russian refugees or Typhus or Ringworm or do your own, or research the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Plan an addition to insert into Letters from Rifka, fictional, but based on research. You might even add something that could happen to Rifka after she is reunited with her family and begins her new life in New York City, 1920. Write a page or more, in the format of a letter to Tovah, and indicate separately the facts you used and the sources of those facts. This would be a good group project, for each member of the group could take a different topic to research, and meet periodically to share their problems and successes of search strategy, and to help each other with suggestions. Conclude a group project by sharing and discussing the completed insertions.

11. Read the excerpts from Karen Hesse's letter and the accompanying information. Identify an author from your state that you would like to know more about. Analyze the questionnaire that Karen Hesse answered, and add 2 or 3 questions. (Keep the original nineteen as is so responses are comparable.) Write a cover letter to your author explaining your interest, and send it along with a blank questionnaire and a filled-in one as an example. When it is returned, write your reactions to it as well as a comparison with one or more authors you have chosen with your librarian or teacher. Your author's folder will be added to the vertical file's author section. Your school may wish to make this material available to other schools via mail, fax, or computer modem.

12. Make a group video about refugees from two different countries. First, brainstorm the kind of video you might make, and how you would do it. The Video Planning and Production Performance Checklist at the back of this Sampler might help you here. Another help could be looking at some visuals of refugees. One excellent video is Fame, Fortune and Sweet Liberty, which follows a Polish and a German immigrant in the 1800s. The format uses 3 characters - a narrator and one immigrant representing each country. The immigrants tell each other about their respective journeys, with the narrator dividing each point of their travels with background information and explaining photographs and paintings that show broad information about refugees. Some sections show one of the immigrants doing a simple task, sharpening an axe blade or hanging up clothes, while they daydream or reminisce on their hopes and plans, and what really happened. Sound effects are used well here. Decide on a tentative format. Then decide on the countries and the kinds of information you will need. (Think of the kinds of information that were included in Letters from Rifka.) Then research both refugee situations and collect MORE information than you think you might need. ( It is easier than trying to relocate information that you decide later that you could use.) Now analyze the results of your research. The material might suggest a change or a modification of the video format you had planned. Look for differences and for similarities of any kind. Could some of the similarities be representative of ALL refugees? Check these out! Can you categorize these differences and similarities? How can you incorporate this information into your video? Now make your video, and after an official 'showing' of your product, arrange for copies to circulate from your library to your community and perhaps to other schools or on community TV. Before you begin, have a clear understanding of how the group should operate, and how your activities and your product will be evaluated.

13. You or a group may design an original activity or an adaptation of one of the above activities and seek approval from your teacher/librarian. For instance, what kind of an activity about Letters from Rifka could you imagine that involves the musical "Fiddler on the Roof"? Or, from activity 9, you might take just the children's rights idea, and make a list of children's rights and responsibilities, then go through Letters from Rifka and fill in which of Rifka's rights were abrogated or honored and how, and how she acted upon her responsibilities. Then you could write in your journal(s) the same kind of analysis about your own rights and responsibilities. Then you would need to go back and revise the original rights and responsibilities list according to the insights you got from assessing the book and your own experiences.

Letter and information from Karen Hesse: From a letter dated June 12, 1993 to Audrey Conant, Information Skills Committee.

...As to my interest and involvement in research, it is one of the elements I love most about writing. Usually, my interest in a subject will be tickled by a documentary on television, a report on Vermont Public Radio, or another book. If it's a subject I care about, a subject that keeps popping up, a subject I simply can't forget, I head off to my regional librarians and request any books about the subject available through the Inter Library Loan system. In the case of Rifka, I needed to learn about Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the United States during the early part of the 20th century. My research extended into the social, political, and economic arenas. I knew very little about that period, so basically I was starting from scratch. For Rifka, my research included reading historical collections (some engagingly written, some very dry), reading fiction written during and about the period, watching movies set in the period, and interviewing people who lived through or knew people who had lived through the period. After I'd filled my head with enough material, I felt prepared to begin writing. When I'm in the research stage of writing a book I'm like a person who is always hungry. I have stacks of books in my bedroom and my office and I eat them up. I often read more than one at a time because I am so eager to see what each has to say that I peek into one before I've finished with another. I don't pay as close attention to housekeeping, or preparing food for my family as I usually. I am often up too late at night, finishing one more chapter, one more book, which leaves me grumpy and groggy the next morning. And then, as my head becomes more and more filled with data, I become the ultimate grump until I actually start writing. Once I start the writing process I relax and am able to get my family and my house back in order again. You ask about the letter format and my choosing letters NOT sent. I chose the letter format because Rifka finds herself in some very difficult situations throughout the book. I wanted readers to be assured that she survived at least long enough to write that letter. I believed it might make it easier to read about the things Rifka endured if readers knew she lived to tell the tale. As to the letters not being sent, given Rifka's character, the surreptitious way in which she had to write the letters due to her lack of writing materials and her parents' lack of toleration for things Russian, I couldn't maintain the integrity of my character and have the letters sent off. If a reader went to Ellis Island they would not find Rifka's name because she is a fictional character, but they would find the names of some of my family members the characters are based on. Which parts of the story are fictional, which factual? To be honest, after all this time I have difficulty keeping track of that myself. Much of the story is solidly based on factual events but it is related in a fictional way to enhance tension, character, and plot development. For instance, Rifka's departure from Berdichev is far more dramatic than my aunt's departure. Rifka celebrates her ritual of passage in Belgium, weaving a star of David from broomstraws, my aunt did not do that. The final scene is another example where I, as writer, made certain events occur that did not in fact occur, though the flavor and mood remains true to my aunt's last day on Ellis Island.... I hope this answers your questions adequately and that the students have a splendid year of satisfying reading. Best wishes, Karen Hesse

.

Author Questionnaire

1. Name: Karen Hesse

2. Address: Star Route, Williamsville VT 05362

3. Books Written:
Wish on a Unicorn. Henry Holt, 1991
Letters from Rifka. Henry Holt, 1992
PoppyÕs Chair. Macmillan, 1993
LesterÕs Dog. Crown, 1993
Lavender. Henry Holt, 1993

4. New Books:
Sable. Henry Holt, 1994
Phoenix Rising. Henry Holt, 1994

5. What are you working on now?
A short novel about a girl and her angel.

6. Have you written any books about, inspired by, or set in this area?
Wish on a Unicorn - Newell's Field, Lessing's Store
Phoenix Rising - Leland and Gray, Mount Anthony, Montpelier, The Spinnery, Manchester: Northshire Bookstore, Radio Shack
Sable - Tom's General Store (S. Newfane General Store), Concord, NH, Hartford, CT, Route 9
Poppy's Chair - Ingleside Mall (Holyoke Mall)

7. Are you a full-time author?
Yes

8. What did you want to be when you were growing up? An archaeologist, an actress, a poet.

9. Have you had other jobs that inspired you to write your books? Typesetter/proofreader, advertising secretary, acting, parenting, life.

10. What kind of an education should an author have?
An author should have a hunger to learn; any space, both internal and external can become a classroom. Life is a prerequisite to writing books, honesty is a prerequisite to writing memorable books.

11. What is your work schedule?
Usually Monday-Friday 8:30-3:10. I take about twenty minutes for lunch which I often eat standing up with a book held open by the salt and pepper shakers in front of me, though sometimes I watch a little TV. while I eat. I also take numerous 'hot water' breaks during the morning.

12. How long does it take you to write a book?
The length of time it takes depends on the particular book and how ready I am for it. Shortest - 1 week, longest - 1 year.

13. What sort of research do you do?
I read both fiction and non-fiction material (relying heavily on the Regional Library in Dummerston for gathering resources), watch movies and documentaries, conduct interviews, attend pertinent classes, and stew.

14. Where do you get your ideas? Wish on a Unicorn - My family actually found a grungy stuffed unicorn at the parking area off Route 30 by the Dummerston Covered Bridge.
Letters from Rifka - Based on my great-aunt's experiences.
Poppy's Chair - Based on my relationship with my grandmother.
Lester's Dog - Grew out of childhood memories.
Lavender - Based on my relationship with my aunt.
Phoenix Rising - Set into motion by a documentary on Chernobyl coupled with our proximity to Vermont Yankee.
Sable - Inspired by our dog, Sasha, who limped down one morning off the mountain behind our house.

15. Do you have a favorite book you read when you were a child? Horton Hatches an Egg and The Adventures of K'on Ton (the night the sky opened) - early childhood.
Hiroshima - by John Hersey. I read this book when I was 11 or 12. It changed my life.

16. A favorite book recently read? Ellen Foster

17. Any advice for aspiring authors?
READ! Learn to listen to and accept criticism from both yourself and from others and turn that criticism into something positive. Be honest and true to your voice.

18. What do you like best about being an author?
I love working alone. I love the feeling of control over my fictional worlds and the feeling of excitement as my characters lead me to discoveries about that world. I love getting feedback from readers. I love being so passionately involved with my characters and caring so deeply about their lives and their worlds that they fill my dreams and weave in and out of my every waking moment.

19. What do you like least?
I get nervous when I go into schools to speak. I don't like bad reviews. I don't like when my work goes unnoticed. I don't like when my work doesn't flow. I don't like looking at something I've written and loved one day only to hate it the next.

Resources:

Fictional Picture Books

Bunting, Eve. How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story. Clarion, 1988. Caribbean to America.

Harvey, Brett. Immigrant Girl. Holiday House, 1987. Russian to America.

Levine, Ellen. I Hate English! Scholastic, 1989. China to America

Levinson, Riki. Watch the Stars Come Out. Dutton, 1985. ? to America.

Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt. Simon and Schuster, 1988. Russia to America.

Sharmat, Marjorie. Gila Monsters Meet you at the Airport. Macmillan, 1980. NY to TX.

Winter, Jeanette. Klara's New World. Knopf, 1992. Swedish to America.

Fiction

Anderson, Margaret J. The Journey of the Shadow Bairns. Knopf, 1980. Scotland to Canada.

Angell, Judie. One-Way to Ansonia. Bradbury, 1985. Russian to America.

Bennett, Jack. The Voyage of the Lucky Dragon. Prentice-Hall, 1981. Vietnamese to Australia.

Chooi, Sook Nyul. Year of Impossible Goodbyes. Houghton-Mifflin, 1991. North Korean to South Korea.

Evernden, Margery. The Dream Keeper. Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1985. Polish to America.

Fisher, Leonard Everett. A Russian Farewell. Four Winds Press, 1980.
Russian to America. Also Across the Sea from Galwsay. Irish to America, and Letters from Italy. Italian to America.

Kerr, Judith. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1971. German to England.

Lasky, Katherine. Night Journey. Frederick Warne, 1981. Russian to America.

Levitin, Sonia. Journey to America. Atheneum, 1970.

Levitin, Sonia. Silver Days. Atheneum, 1989. German to America.

Lord, Bette Bao. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Harper and Row, 1984. Chinese to America.

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Houghton Mifflin, 1989. Danish to Sweden.

Sachs, Marilyn. Call me Ruth. Doubleday, 1982. Russian to America.

Talbot, Charlene Joy. An Orphan for Nebraska. Atheneum, 1979. Irish to America.

Watkins, Yoko Kawashima. So Far from the Bamboo Grove. Puffin, 1986. Japanese in Korea to Japan. v Werstein, Irving. The Long Escape. Scribner, 1964. Belgian to England.

Non-fiction

Ashabranner, Brent. An Ancient Heritage: The Arab-American Minority. Harper Collins, 1991.
Includes the history of Arab immigration to the United States.

Berry, Joy. Every Kid's Guide to Understanding Human Rights. Living Skills Press, 1986.
A simple introduction to issues involving human rights, focussing on childrenÕs rights. Cartoons.

Bradley, John. Human Rights. Ron Hayward Associates, 1987.
An issue- oriented book for middle level and high school students.

Eiseman, Alberta. From Many Lands. Atheneum, 1970.
A comprehensive history of American immigration from 1565 on. Chapters on the Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, Orientals, and one entitled ÒThe Jews in the United StatesÓ. Many excerpts from immigrant letters.

Fisher, Leonard Everett. Ellis Island: Gateway to the New World. Holiday House, 1986.
A short but comprehensive history of American immigration, immigration laws, and Ellis Island. Includes numerous quotes from immigrants.

Hitchcox, Linda. Refugees. Gloucester Press, 1990.
A simple overview of the status of recent refugees. Describes their plight and hardships and efforts to help them. Includes a chart of statistics.

Jacobs, William Jay. Ellis Island: New Hope in a New Land. Scribner's, 1990.
A walk-through history of Ellis Island and immigration to America. Describes the immigrant wall of honor.

Levinson, Nancy. I Lift My Lamp: Emma Lazarus ad the Statue of Liberty. Lodestar, 1986.
A biography of the author of the famous inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Incorporates a history of the Statue itself and the tragic circumstances of many immigrants.

Shapiro, Mary J. How They Built the Statue of Liberty. Random, 1985.
"Panoramas, cross-sections and diagrams provide a detailed portrayal of the construction of the Statue of Liberty, one of the nineteenth century's greatest engineering feats."

Shapiro, William E. The Statue of Liberty. Franklin Watts, 1985.
A history of the idea's inception, erection, and subsequent modifications.

Shippen, Katherine. Passage to America. Harper, 1950.
A history of American immigration from 1781 on. Entire chapters on Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Irish, Chinese, Italian, Black, Post-World War II, and one called 'The Escape frrom Russia'.

Siegel, Beatrice. Sam Ellisis Island. Four Winds Press, 1985.
An introduction to American immigration and its issues through an extensive history of Ellis Island.

Computer Program

Immigrant. A series of interactive databases and spreadsheets to be used with Appleworks, with students role-playing Irish immigrants in Boston mid-nineteenth century.

Video

Fame, Fortune, and Sweet Liberty. TeleNews, Bremen, Germany, 1992.

60 minutes. A vivid portrayal of two immigrants' plights, journeys, and new lives in America; one from Germany in 1854, one from Poland in 1907. Very detailed. Recent

American Immigrants.
A series published by Franklin Watts in the 1990s that discuss the immigrants, their reasons for coming, their lifestyles, and their contributions. Include: Eastern Europeans, Asian Indians, Chinese, Cubans and Caribbean Islanders, Filipinos, Koreans, Mexicans, Southeast Asians.

Assessment: The student-made video of #12 may be planned and assessed using the Video Planning and Production Performance Checklist and the Scoring Criteria for Presentation tools. These are located in this Sampler's Appendix I and II.

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Prepared by Audrey Conant

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