Chinese in the Mississippi Delta​​

• Pre-Reading Activity
• Discussion Questions
• Activity 1 (Maps)​
• Activity 2 (Folktales)
• Activity 3 (Storyboards)​

Activity 3: Sketching Storyboards

learning objectives

Students will be able to:

• Examine and speculate the trajectory of the characters
  
• Identify the meaning of historical fiction
  
• Explore the storytelling process through writing and storyboarding exercises

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Jump to Vocabulary List (bottom)

Activity Instructions:
​Step 1 (10 min)
Present the section of slides for Activity 3 (slides 24-35). Watch the video, "The Untold Story of America's Southern Chinese." Review vocabulary.

Step 2 (5 min)
Facilitate a classroom discussion on the following questions:

1. What are the similarities and differences between the experiences of the Chinese immigrants shown in the video and in the book, Sugar?
   
2. What examples of solidarity between Black and Chinese Southerners did you see in the video?

Step 3 (15 min)
After reflecting on the video, prompt students to imagine what life after River Road might have been like for the Chinese characters in Sugar. Some may have stayed in the Mississippi Delta to continue working on plantations or open up grocery stores. Others may have left to find new opportunities elsewhere. Instruct students to select one of the following characters for their storyboard sketch: Beau, Master Liu, or Mister Zheng. Have students do an independent free-write imagining what they think happens to their selected character after the book ends, using the following guiding questions:

1. Where does this character go after the book ends? Do they stay or go?
   
2. What do they want to do? How do they do it?
   
3. What happens next?

Step 4 (5 min)
Distribute the worksheet for Activity 3. Introduce the definition of storyboard. Prompt students to imagine that they are writing a story about their selected character. Using the free-write they brainstormed, instruct students to chronologically fill in the blank storyboard with what happens to their selected character after the book ends.

Extension Activity (Grades 6-7):
​Step 5 (7 min)
Students will expand the storyboard activity into writing their own historical fiction stories. Introduce the definition of historical fiction. Watch the video, "Award winning children's book author Jewell Parker Rhodes discusses historical fiction."

Step 6 (50-100 min)
Students will spend 1-2 class periods conducting research on the historical background of Chinese immigrants in the American South. Using the author's tips from the video, students will write historical fiction stories about their selected character. This assignment can be completed either in class or as homework.

Resources for students:

• The Legacy of the Mississippi Delta Chinese (NPR)
  
• Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum
  
• Far East Deep South Documentary

 

Vocabulary List:
Credit: buying items before paying, with the promise of paying it back later
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): law that banned Chinese immigrants from the U.S.
Foreigner: someone from another country; stranger, outsider
Storyboard: a series of panels with drawings to plan out what happens in a story
Historical Fiction: a type of writing where the story is made-up, but is based on real events that took place in history

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