1. After four years of being upset that Ron married their white daughter, Takaki’s father-in-law, Mr. Rankin, began to warm up. Mr. Rankin’s “racist attitudes were not frozen.” What does Takaki mean? Do you think racism can be “unfrozen”? How? Share any of your experiences.

2. Takaki writes that when he went to college in Ohio, others thought he “did not look like an American.” What is an American? What does an American look like?