Inside Out and Back Again Plot Diagram Storyboard
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
By Liane Hicks
Inside Out and Back Again is an award winning, historical fiction novel by Thanhha Lai. It is 1975 and ten-year-old Hà lives with her mother and three brothers in Saigon, which is about to be taken over by the North Vietnamese. The family decides to make the dangerous journey to flee as refugees to the United States. Engage and educate students with Storyboard That premade activities!
Storyboard Description
Students can summarize and illustrate the plot of the story in a 6 cell storyboard highlighting the exposition and conflict, rising action, climax / turning point, falling action, and resolution.
Storyboard Text
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- CONFLICT
- Tet, 1975:Year of the Cat
- Tet, 1975:Year of the Cat
- RISING ACTION
- The story begins on Tet, the Vietnamese New Year in 1975. Kim Hà lives in Saigon with her loving family: mother and older brothers Quang, Vû, and Khôi. Vietnam has been at war for decades but Saigon remains under the control of the South Vietnamese government for now. However, it is only a matter of time before the communist North Vietnamese take over.
- CLIMAX
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- Hà's father disappeared nine years ago on a mission for the South Vietnamese Navy. He is considered "missing in action." They miss their father terribly and Hà's mother has to support the family on her own. It is very difficult as the war makes everything scarce. With the impending siege of Saigon by the North Vietnamese, people have begun evacuating. Hà's family must decide whether to stay or try to flee.
- FALLING ACTION
- Hà's family makes the difficult decision to flee. They must leave everything behind except what they can carry in small backpacks. They board a South Vietnamese Navy ship that is repurposed for refugees with hundreds of others and sail for weeks with little food and water. Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese and South Vietnam is no more. They luckily make it to the United States where they are taken in by a generous "Cowboy" and his unkind wife.
- RESOLUTION
- Hà's family start over in America. They face hateful racism from their neighbors. English is difficult to learn. Hà is bullied at school. Hà confides in her mother that she is miserable and wishes they could have stayed in Vietnam. Her family and a few new friends help Hà to stand up to the main bully, "Pink Boy". Brother Vû Lee arrives on his motorcycle and intimidates the boy. At school, things begin to change for the better after that.
- One day when Hà's mother is at work, she accidentally loses her wedding ring. It was the last tie the family had to their father. They had always believed that he would somehow return but this misfortune seems like a sign for the family to accept his death and move on. Together they hold a traditional funeral ceremony for him.
- The story ends with the the family celebrating Tet again in 1976. In Vietnamese culture, everyone is one year older on Tet and it is a chance to ensure good fortune for the coming year. Hà prays for her father to find a safe passage to his final resting place, for each of her brothers and her mother, and that she "truly learns to fly-kick, not to kick anyone so much as to fly."
- Tet, 1976:The Year of the Dragon
- Tet, 1976:The Year of the Dragon
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