Borders

Consider how the attribute Pride is represented in the story. What are some of the positive and negative attributes of the mother’s Pride? How does your answer in the Personal Connection Prompt compare with King’s message?

Teaching Suggestion: For King, Pride is the primary catalyst of change in the story. There is an expectation from both the reader as well as the characters within the story that the mother will be compliant and succumb to the rules of the border guards; however, King alters this narrative with the simple act of resistance, ultimately fueled by Pride, to emphasize that compliance leads to complaisance, and therefore structural racism is perpetually left unchallenged. Ultimately, the mother’s Pride leads to her resistance, which in turn raises awareness for The Outside World regarding the difficulties that many Indigenous communities face regarding the dichotomous relationship between Citizenship and Identity.

Differentiation Suggestion: For more visual learners, this question can be presented in Venn diagram form, ultimately allowing students to compare and contrast their own understandings of the theme Pride with King’s point-of-view.