On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• Genre: Fiction; coming-of-age; semi-autobiographical
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; approximately 246 pages; approximately 7 hours, 19 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: In this novel, a young Vietnamese American man known as Little Dog writes a letter to his illiterate mother, reflecting on a shared past marked by trauma, love, addiction, and the legacy of the Vietnam War. The central conflict revolves around Little Dog’s struggle with his identity, his mother’s violence, and his experience of love and loss.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Explicit content; substance abuse; violence; trauma; depictions of anti-gay bias; graphic sexual content

Ocean Vuong, Author

• Bio: Born 1988; Vietnamese-American poet, writer, and professor; emigrated with his family to the US after the fall of Saigon; received his MFA in poetry from New York University; explores themes of identity, migration, and the impact of trauma across generations in his work
• Other Works: Night Sky with Exit Wounds (poetry collection, 2016)
• Awards: American Book Award (2020); shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2020)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mental Health
• Drug Use and Addiction
• The Survival of Beauty Through Loss and Violence

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Guide, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the end of the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon in 1975 that led to a mass exodus of Vietnamese refugees, as well as an understanding of the refugee experience in the United States.
• Study paired texts and other resources to make connections to the text’s themes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mental Health, Drug Use and Addiction, and The Survival of Beauty Through Loss and Violence.
• Compare and contrast Vuong’s novel to other epistolary texts, and write an epistolary work or series of works that demonstrates an understanding of the form.
• Analyze and evaluate theme, symbolism, author’s purpose, and other literary devices to draw conclusions in structured essays regarding trauma, war, family, and other topics.