Writing/Essay/Journal
Nguyen is the most common Vietnamese surname. Perhaps as many as 40% of Vietnamese have this surname which means that while they share a name they aren’t all related. Bao Phi’s poem is about all the different types of people who have this name, but perhaps little else in common. What is your last name? Is it common? Do you know people with the same last name as you? How well do you know each other? Do you know where other people live who share your name?

Activity
Write your own poem about people who have one or two things in common, but are otherwise entirely different people.