Reader Response

Reader Response

            I am responding to Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos. I have read 80 out of 159 pages. The text is fiction

            The main characters are Nadira (the narrator), Aisha (Nadira’s sister), Ma (Nadira’s mother), and Abba (Nadira’s father). The genre of this text is historical fiction because the text is about Nadira and her family trying to move to Canada but their visas are expired. The setting is New York but they are immigrants from Bangladesh. The conflict is while Nadira’s family was going to cross the US border they had to show their visas but they’re expired. So Abba and Ma had gotten sent to a detention centre and a shelter, for Ma. Nadira and Aisha were told to go back to live with their Uncle and Aunt. The climax of the novel was when Nadira’s Uncle and Aunt were fighting about how Nadira shouldn’t be there, and how she should just go back to Bangladesh. The protagonist is Nadira because she is the leading character. The antagonist is Aisha because she is like one who Nadira has to compete in, like her grades are always being compared to Nadira’s. The author used foreshadowing when the text had said that Aisha it would be no difference is they were still in Bangladesh. This was foreshadowing because it was shows that maybe later on in the novel, they do get new visas and they move back to Bangladesh, but it would be different.

                        Retell

            The title of this novel says to me “Don’t ask me questions,” as if someone’s family/friends are being questioned and a person doesn’t want to feel the pressure they had felt, while being questioned. My favourite part of this text was when Nadira’s father, Abba was getting put into the Detention Center. Not because I didn’t like him, but because you could feel the tension in the book. Also you could almost imagine seeing Nadira, Aisha and Ma’s pain. It had probably felt like they were leaving everything they ever had. The character I admire most is Nadira because she doesn’t care what others think. Example; when she looked in the bathroom mirror and others commented on how she was obese. Nadira did not care; she left the bathroom and moved on. If I had to summarize the text in 1-3 sentences I would say that it is about a family of 4 who were trying to leave America but had got stopped and had to go back, because their visas were expired. The father had to go to a detention center and the mother had to go to a shelter. The kids, Nadira and Aisha were sent back to live with their Aunt and Uncle. When they got to their Aunt’s Aisha had gotten an interview with one of the college principals but she didn’t have the money to pay for the fees.

                   Reflect

          This text had helped me understand our Geography unit, because it had to do with immigration, so did the text. Also some of the topics were almost the same, example; how they had an expired visa for years, so did many in our geography unit. I thought this text was realistic because a lot of people have to cross borders and some have expired visas, such as Abba. Also some people don’t have the money for college fees, just like Aisha. I think the author had written this text to the people, who have had a similar situation. I think this because she probably wanted to inform the people/world that they aren’t the only people who this had happened to. They are not alone.

                                               

                        Relate

          If I could be any character in this text I would be Nadira because unlike Aisha, she doesn’t care about only her self. Nadira is caring for her Uncle and thinking about what he had meant when he yelled at her. Also Nadira has her own personality, unlike Taslima, who follows her friends. Taslima and Aisha are alike they both have to follow others; Nadira on the other hand is a leader. This person, Nadira reminds me of my old friends. This is because like her she doesn’t care what other people think. This text makes me think about refugees and immigration, because that is what is happening to this family. If I could talk to one of the characters in this text I would talk to Aisha and ask her if that had ever happened to anyone she knows. I would also ask her if the role she is doing, is her real personality or just a role.