Journey to Topaz | Topics for Discussion & Projects

Journey to Topaz Suggested Essay Topics

Do you think the evacuation of Japanese Americans was legal?

The evacuation described in the novel occurred before many current human-rights laws were enacted. Do you think that makes the evacuation more intelligible?

What possible activities was the United States government trying to prevent by evacuating hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans from the West Coast?

Why were German Americans and Italian Americans not evacuated? Why were Japanese Americans not evacuated from Hawaii?

Japanese Americans who joined the United States Armed Forces were generally not permitted to participate in combat roles in the Pacific Theater. What was the rationale for this decision?

Do you think that the evacuation of Japanese Americans helped or hindered the war effort? What evidence can you think of that supports your opinion?

Would you rather live in Berkeley, California, or Topaz, Utah? Why?

Emi Kurihara suffered from tuberculosis. Why did the author select tuberculosis instead...
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