Letters from Rifka

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What does it mean to be persecuted? Consider the history of persecution of certain communities globally. Can you think of certain ethnic, political, or religious groups who have been persecuted for their beliefs? Who targeted these groups and why?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider their prior knowledge of the term “persecution” and how it relates to their understanding of the novel’s theme Empathy for Suffering Individuals. Jewish communities have been persecuted by various religious and political institutions since their origins in BCE times. These communities were often exiled, forced to relocate, and subjugated to governmental control and oppression; for example, in the novel’s setting of early 20th-century Russia, many Jewish peoples’ actions were regulated by governmental policy. While Hesse’s novel does not focus on the daily life of Rifka’s family in Russia, she does use Rifka’s letters as an opportunity to reference past hardships living as a Jewish girl, which ultimately culminated in the family’s decision to leave their city of Berdichev and immigrate to America.