Hardships Faced at Tanforan: A Detailed Account
Desert Exile Study Guide
•
Vocabulary section (fill-in-the-blank, synonyms, and antonyms)
1.
What happened to her father?
2.
Describe Tanforan and the apartment.
3.
What does the word “assigned” tell you about where the author is
going to live?
4.
What is the author’s purpose in writing this piece?
5.
Describe the living conditions at Tanforan.
6.
Why did the family feel the need to eat prunes when they
wouldn’t eat them before Tanforan?
7.
Why does the author include a vivid description of what her
mother wore?
8.
Describe the occupants of Tanforan.
9.
What difficulties did people face at Tanforan?
10.
How did Uchida and her family rely on her friends while at the
camp?
11.
How did the Uchida family transform their apartment from a
stable to a home?
12.
How did the camp change people?
13.
Why did the author end the story with “we didn’t dare quite
believe….?”
1. What happened to her
father?
•
Uchida’s father was suspected of being a spy
because he worked for a Japanese-owned
company in San Francisco. Due to this affiliation, he
was arrested and sent to Montana.
2. Describe Tanforan and the
apartment.
•
Tanforan is one of the assembly centers where the
Japanese-Americans were first sent. It was a
racetrack, and the stables for the horses were
converted into apartments. Approximately 8,000
Japanese-Americans were housed there. Each
apartment was approximately 10’x20’. This space
became their home. They were given Army cots to
sleep on. There was a constant breeze which
entered into their apartment. Also, the manure floor
was covered in linoleum. The Uchidas resided in
Barrack 16, Apartment 40.
3. What does the word “assigned” tell you
about where the author is going to live?
•
The Japanese Americans at the camp did not
choose to come here but rather were sent here
and “assigned” to the camp in the same way they
were being assigned to their “apartment.” The
author did not get to choose her living quarters but
instead was assigned to the stable like an animal.
4. What is the author’s purpose in
writing this piece?
•
Uchida wrote this piece to inform readers about the
hardships many Japanese-Americans endured.
5. Describe the living
conditions.
•
The living conditions were horrendous. The
bathrooms did not have doors or curtains for
privacy nor did the shower area. The shower area
was split into two sections. The front section had a
trough where the internees would wash their face
and brush their teeth. The back section consisted of
shower areas, but yet again, they did not have any
privacy. There was a constant lack of hot water and
other basic supplies like toilet paper. The food was
barely edible and was even served by a person’s
bare hand. They did not have any lights available
throughout the camp for people so internees had
to navigate their way around camp in the dark.
6. Why did the family feel the need to eat prunes
when they wouldn’t eat them before Tanforan?
•
The Uchida family normally wouldn’t eat prunes as
they were not appetizing, but unfortunately, they
were starving and available from a neighbor.
7. Why does the author include a vivid
description of what her mother wore?
•
The author is contrasting the way her mother is
immaculately dressed with the sloppy and dirty
surroundings at the camp (muddy track and
haphazardly constructed barracks). Also, the
description of the mother’s outfit tells us that the
mother has a great sense of pride and was a formal
and careful person. This is also in contrast to the
surroundings where the Japanese Americans are
being stripped of their pride by being sent to the
camp, assigned an apartment, and forced to live in
horse stables.
8. Describe the occupants
of Tanforan.
•
The occupants were Japanese-Americans from a
variety of backgrounds. In Uchida’s stable, there
were many small family units which included an
artist, her father’s barber and his wife, an elderly
retired couple, a group of Kibei bachelors, an
insurance salesman and his wife, and a widow with
two daughters.
9. What difficulties did people
face at Tanforan?
•
It was essentially every man and woman for
him/herself. The occupants faced unsanitary
conditions, constant hunger, a lack of basic survival
materials, a lack of hot and clean water, the cold,
and the mud.
10. How did Uchida and her family
rely on her friends while at the camp?
•
Uchida wrote to her friends in Berkeley asking them
to send her food. Due to the absence of her father
at the camp, the Uchida family also relied on their
friends to help them setup their home and gather
necessities. Their friends put up shelves and built a
table and benches for her family.
11. How did the Uchida family transform
their apartment from a stable to a home?
•
They ordered print fabric by mail and sewed
curtains by hand to hang at their windows and to
cover their shelves. They sectioned their living area
off into a living room consisting of the furniture their
friends helped them with and a dungeon which is
where they would sleep.
12. How did the camp
change people?
•
For Uchida and her family, they had to learn to
adapt to challenging situations. For others, some
people became very selfish whereas others
became generous.
13. Why did the author end the story
with “we didn’t dare quite believe….?”
•
The author was removed from her home, separated
from her father, sent with her mother and siblings to
the camp all in the course of one day. When she
arrived at the camp the conditions were more
fitting for animals than for humans. Due to this
mistreatment, the author has no reason to believe
that her captors (the Americans) will actually allow
her father to return.
Uchida's memoir, "Desert Exile," delves into the challenging experiences of Japanese-Americans at Tanforan assembly center during World War II. The narrative highlights the unjust internment of Uchida's father, the stark living conditions in converted horse stables, the lack of privacy in communal facilities, and the overall struggles faced by the internees. Uchida vividly portrays the resilience and solidarity among the incarcerated individuals, emphasizing the enduring impact of such discrimination and displacement.
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Presentation Transcript
Desert Exile Study Guide Vocabulary section (fill-in-the-blank, synonyms, and antonyms) What happened to her father? Describe Tanforan and the apartment. What does the word assigned tell you about where the author is going to live? What is the author s purpose in writing this piece? Describe the living conditions at Tanforan. Why did the family feel the need to eat prunes when they wouldn t eat them before Tanforan? Why does the author include a vivid description of what her mother wore? Describe the occupants of Tanforan. What difficulties did people face at Tanforan? 10. How did Uchida and her family rely on her friends while at the camp? 11. How did the Uchida family transform their apartment from a stable to a home? 12. How did the camp change people? 13. Why did the author end the story with we didn t dare quite believe .? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
1. What happened to her father? Uchida s father was suspected of being a spy because he worked for a Japanese-owned company in San Francisco. Due to this affiliation, he was arrested and sent to Montana.
2. Describe Tanforan and the apartment. Tanforan is one of the assembly centers where the Japanese-Americans were first sent. It was a racetrack, and the stables for the horses were converted into apartments. Approximately 8,000 Japanese-Americans were housed there. Each apartment was approximately 10 x20 . This space became their home. They were given Army cots to sleep on. There was a constant breeze which entered into their apartment. Also, the manure floor was covered in linoleum. The Uchidas resided in Barrack 16, Apartment 40.
3. What does the word assigned tell you about where the author is going to live? The Japanese Americans at the camp did not choose to come here but rather were sent here and assigned to the camp in the same way they were being assigned to their apartment. The author did not get to choose her living quarters but instead was assigned to the stable like an animal.
4. What is the authors purpose in writing this piece? Uchida wrote this piece to inform readers about the hardships many Japanese-Americans endured.
5. Describe the living conditions. The living conditions were horrendous. The bathrooms did not have doors or curtains for privacy nor did the shower area. The shower area was split into two sections. The front section had a trough where the internees would wash their face and brush their teeth. The back section consisted of shower areas, but yet again, they did not have any privacy. There was a constant lack of hot water and other basic supplies like toilet paper. The food was barely edible and was even served by a person s bare hand. They did not have any lights available throughout the camp for people so internees had to navigate their way around camp in the dark.
6. Why did the family feel the need to eat prunes when they wouldn t eat them before Tanforan? The Uchida family normally wouldn t eat prunes as they were not appetizing, but unfortunately, they were starving and available from a neighbor.
7. Why does the author include a vivid description of what her mother wore? The author is contrasting the way her mother is immaculately dressed with the sloppy and dirty surroundings at the camp (muddy track and haphazardly constructed barracks). Also, the description of the mother s outfit tells us that the mother has a great sense of pride and was a formal and careful person. This is also in contrast to the surroundings where the Japanese Americans are being stripped of their pride by being sent to the camp, assigned an apartment, and forced to live in horse stables.
8. Describe the occupants of Tanforan. The occupants were Japanese-Americans from a variety of backgrounds. In Uchida s stable, there were many small family units which included an artist, her father s barber and his wife, an elderly retired couple, a group of Kibei bachelors, an insurance salesman and his wife, and a widow with two daughters.
9. What difficulties did people face at Tanforan? It was essentially every man and woman for him/herself. The occupants faced unsanitary conditions, constant hunger, a lack of basic survival materials, a lack of hot and clean water, the cold, and the mud.
10. How did Uchida and her family rely on her friends while at the camp? Uchida wrote to her friends in Berkeley asking them to send her food. Due to the absence of her father at the camp, the Uchida family also relied on their friends to help them setup their home and gather necessities. Their friends put up shelves and built a table and benches for her family.
11. How did the Uchida family transform their apartment from a stable to a home? They ordered print fabric by mail and sewed curtains by hand to hang at their windows and to cover their shelves. They sectioned their living area off into a living room consisting of the furniture their friends helped them with and a dungeon which is where they would sleep.
12. How did the camp change people? For Uchida and her family, they had to learn to adapt to challenging situations. For others, some people became very selfish whereas others became generous.
13. Why did the author end the story with we didn t dare quite believe .? The author was removed from her home, separated from her father, sent with her mother and siblings to the camp all in the course of one day. When she arrived at the camp the conditions were more fitting for animals than for humans. Due to this mistreatment, the author has no reason to believe that her captors (the Americans) will actually allow her father to return.
