When Jessie Came Across the Sea – Jessie meets Cousin Kay
Today we have studied this image from the story of Jessie being met at the immigration centre by Cousin Kay. We know that the immigration centre was a stressful place for any arrivals. Many people were not allowed into America because of poor health or because the officials didn’t like the look of them. There were lots of queues, tests and questions, and all arrivals lived in fear of being refused a place in the place where “the streets were lined with gold.”
So, how did Jessie feel in this picture? What did she think as she looked at the people around her and met the person with whom she would be living for the first time?
Write your thoughts here.
To help you further, look at the PowerPoint which is below the picture. These are the images from the story that we have looked at during the past 3 weeks. They show the whole of Jessie’s journey, from her modest home with her grandmother, being chosen by the rabbi, saying goodbye to grandmother, the testing journey across the ocean through to the hustle and bustle of the immigration centre. After all of this, how would Jessie feel?
We can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Jessie may feel frighted,scared,worried and anxious as she is in a country and she doesn’t know any one except Kay. As Jessie looked a round she saw people being ejected as they did not like the look of them. Jessie may not know if she can trust Kay as she hardly knows her.
You make some good points Brooke. In class today there were similar things said. There was a lot of talk about the 3 people sat to the left of Jessie and Kay, who were possibly waiting again before showing their papers. Some people also noticed the two people standing behind Jessie who seem to be looking at her being met by Kay – they are possibly wishing it was them being taken out of the arrivals area!
We also noticed that the people lined up behind Jessie seem to be from a range of cultures because of the different styles of clothing. This got us thinking that some people would have had an even longer journey to New York than Jessie.
Think too about Jessie’s whole journey from the farm with her grandmother to here. She has been through a lot!