The Year of the Dog

Pacy personalizes her narration in The Year of the Dog with hand-drawn pictures and family stories, creating an informal style. How does this stylistic choice affect the tone of the novel? Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Although Becky is a minor character, her words have a significant impact on Pacy. Examine when and how Becky appears and determine her purpose in the narrative. Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Analyze the conversation between Melody and Pacy about the lack of representation of Chinese people in film and books. After watching this brief video from PBS NewsHour, exploring the We Need Diverse Books website, and considering Pacy’s comments on pages 71-72, evaluate the effects of media representation (and misrepresentation) on a person’s identity.