Road to Chlifa

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), a refugee can be defined as “someone who has been forced to flee conflict or persecution and has crossed an international border to seek safety. They cannot return to their country without risking their life or freedoms. It is a legal term that carries with it certain protections that refugees are entitled to.” What are some of the protections that might benefit a refugee? What considerations must be addressed for individuals and families who relocate as refugees?

Teaching Suggestion: Officially instated as a part of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the term “refugee” has been applied to a variety of waves of individuals who have sought protection from outbreaks of violence in their country of origin. In particular, wars and persecution in Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1960s and 1970s, Lebanon in the 1980s, the Balkan territories in the 1990s, and the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine in the early 21st century are some examples of internationally discussed refugee waves. In Road to Chlifa, the protagonist Karim is a refugee from Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War; the narrative reveals the story of his journey to Canada. Depending on students’ background and familiarity with this conflict, a brief research investigation may be beneficial. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of this prompt, private journal responses may be a suitable approach. Alternatively, students might work with a partner to list logical protections and considerations for those relocating as refugees.

• National Geographic provides an overview of the meaning of “Refugee” as well as the global protection mechanisms attached to this term.
• UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder shares key statistics about the current demographics of refugees and asylum seekers globally.
• Global Citizen shares “7 of the Biggest Challenges Immigrants and Refugees Face in the US.”
• Women For Women International discusses “5 Myths & Misconceptions About Refugees.”
• The American University of Beirut offers a resource page on the Lebanese Civil War, including a timeline of major events.
• PBS offers a brief summary of the Lebanese Civil War and other resources regarding its series, “Future for Lebanon.”

2. How are roads typically symbolic in literature? With what stories are you familiar with in which a road or other physical pathway is an important element? How are roads in literature often connected to conflict?

Teaching Suggestion: Students might address this literary context question in small groups initially by brainstorming ideas and themes often symbolized by roads, such as quests, journeys, freedom, safety, and coming of age. Titles mentioned in discussion of stories in which a road or physical pathway plays a significant part may range from Kerouac’s counterculture travelogue On the Road to dystopian titles like McCarthy’s The Road to classic hero’s journey stories like the Odyssey and The Hobbit. As more direct entry points for connection to Road to Chlifa, students can discuss the ways in which roads and pathways often play double roles for protagonists in that they offer routes to safety or fulfillment but contain challenges and dangers with potentially tragic consequences. For additional literary context and connections, students might expand the discussion to historical or modern realistic works that include refugees as protagonists and real or metaphorical roads such as The Kite Runner, American Street, Salt to the Sea, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Inside Out and Back Again, A Long Walk to Water, and many others.  

• For students seeking to learn more about the refugee experience through fiction and nonfiction, title possibilities such as those on this list from Random House may be a starting point; summaries for these works might be helpful in discussion of this prompt’s questions.
• This resource page on symbolism includes a definition and examples that may be beneficial in review.

Differentiation Suggestion: For a visual-spatial approach or extension, students might consult a map of the region between Beirut and Chlifa and research conditions, landforms, distance, routes, and other factors that they think may play a role in Karim’s journey.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Why do you think many people seek experiences in nature? What fulfillment might nature provide an individual that populated environments and experiences with other people cannot?

Teaching Suggestion: This Personal Connection Prompt may be helpful in introducing the novel’s theme of Nature Versus Culture. Karim’s experiences in and with nature on his journey are sharply contrasted in the novel with the actions of humans that lead to conflict and death. Nature serves as a form of solitude and protection, while humans and their cultures function as perpetrators of violence and cruelty. Students might address this question in a journal-style response; during reading, students might return to and reflect again on this question as nature’s symbolic meaning in the novel becomes evident.