The following lesson activity is based on the article “A Few Miles From San Bernardino, a Muslim Prom Queen Reigns.”
Before Reading
Do the extended Warm Up from our lesson plan “Growing Up in a Time of Fear: Confronting Stereotypes About Muslims and Countering Xenophobia.”
After Reading
Answer the questions, supporting your responses by citing evidence from the text.
1. At what school is Zarifeh Shalabi a high school senior? What location is her school near?
2. Why did her friends organize a campaign to help Zarifeh get elected prom queen? What were their campaign strategies?
3. Why was Zarifeh “more worried about getting permission to attend than wondering about winning”?
4. What did Zarifeh decide to wear to the prom?
5. How did her parents respond to her winning prom queen?
6. What is your reaction to the student body’s decision to elect Zarifeh prom queen? Do you think the vote is symbolic in any way? Does it “represent something good,” as one of her friends hoped it would?
Going Further
Read the article “Young Muslim Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Suspicion.” Kirk Semple writes:
Hebh Jamal does not remember the Sept. 11 attacks. She was 1. Growing up in the Bronx, she was unaware of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and was mostly insulated from the surge in suspicion that engulfed Muslims in the United States, the programs of police surveillance and the rise in bias attacks.
But in the past year, especially in the past several months, as her emergence from childhood into young womanhood has coincided with the violent spread of the Islamic State and a surge in Islamophobia, she has had to confront some harsh challenges of being a young Muslim in America.
Instead of occupying herself with a teenager’s normal concerns, like homework, clothes and hanging out with friends, she said, she has had to contend with growing anti-Muslim sentiment, adjusting her routines to avoid attacks and worrying about how she appears to the rest of society. And she has repeatedly felt compelled to justify her faith and to distance herself from terrorists who murder in the name of her religion.
“I have to sit down and study more and think more, and the idea of thinking more is really tough, because as a 15-year-old, you don’t want to think more,” Ms. Jamal said in an interview last week. “I feel like the past two months have probably been the hardest of my life.”
Then use the questions in this lesson plan for discussion or writing.
Related
6 Q’s About the News | Marvel Introducing Kamala Khan, a Muslim Girl Superhero