Book Summary:Red Scarf Girl - A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang, is the true story of twelve year old Ji-li's life in 1966. At this time, Mao Zedong began the Cultural Revolution and Ji-li's life was turned upside down. She is the oldest of three children and lived in Shang-hai with her parents and grandmother. Ji-li was always at the top of her class but she soons finds out that her class status will determine her fate. Ji-li must decide whether to be faithful to her family or her friends and the Cultural Revolution. Her long deceased grandfather was once a landlord, therefore her family is considered a Black Family. Her class status and the fact that her father was considered a rightist (and later detained), keeps Ji-li from being able to become a Red Guard. As the Cultural Revolution is determined to destroy the Four Olds (Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas), Ji-li struggles with being loyal to her family or her country.
About The Author:
Ji-li Jiang published her first book, Red Scarf Girl, in 1997. She told about how her family survived the Cultural Revolution in China from 1966-1968. Her family faced many struggles, including several house invasions by the Red Guards and her father being detained. She watched her family and neighbors punished for a past they could not change. The experiences Ji-li encountered were different than what most twelve year olds were experiences at this time. Eventually Ji-li graduated from Shanghai Teacher's College and worked as a science teacher in Shanghai. Ji-li moved to the United States in 1984. She attended the University of Hawaii and studied Travel Industry Management. In 1992, she co-founded East West Exchange and in 2003, she started a nonprofit organization, Cultural Exchange International . Her family is also residing in the United States at this time. Ji-li now visits schools to discuss her life experiences.
How to teach this text to students-
*Before reading:
1. Begin by having students research their past and where their grandparents and great grandparents came from. If students are comfortable, have them share their experiences with the class. Discuss how one's past may have led them to where they are now.
2. Assign vocabulary words, located at the back of the book, to individual or groups of students. Have students spend time defining each word and presenting it to the class. They can make a poster about the word, act out the word, or present examples of the word.
*While reading:
1. Each day have the class add to a timeline created of Ji-li's life. Post time line in the classroom for all to refer to.
2. Choose specific scenes from the book and have students act out those scenes from the book.
3. Ask students to create a da-zi- bao that they may have made, if they were living in China at this time.
4. Have students reflect on how Ji-li's class status prevented her from pursuing her dream to be a Red Guard- have a debate as to whether or not this was fair.
5. Write a journal entry in Ji-li's diary as to how she felt after her father was detained.
6. How difficult do you feel it was for Ji-li to make the decisions she made about her family, friends, and herself?
7. What emotions do you feel Ji-li is going through? What emotions are you experiencing as you read this book?
8. Discuss how the Cultural Revolution changed people's views. Was this right or wrong?
9. Have students relate a time in their own lives when they had to choose between family and friends? This may be an activity that all students do not share. If a student does not feel comfortable sharing, they may respond to what they would have done, if they were Ji-li.
* After reading:
1. Read other books, such as The Diary of Anne Frank, and compare the lives of the two women.
2. Research the culture of China today and how it has changed since the death of Chairman Mao Zedong. (Social Studies connection)
3. Have students compare the life of a teen living during the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to the life of a teen living in the United States in 1966.
4. Write a letter to Ji-li regarding your feelings about the book and how it may have changed your perspective of life at this time in China.
5. Provide students with posters that Ji-li may have seen during the Cultural Revolution and have students analyze their meaning.
Poster for "The Red Woman's Army"Links to specific lesson plans and various teaching resources:
- Ed Helper - (must be a member to access some materials)- quizzes, vocabulary activities, book report forms.
- Ji-li's home page contains various questions for students to reflect upon, based on different perspectives of the book.
Essential Questions:
1. The Cultural Revolution changed the views that everyone should have about teachers. As a teacher, how did it make you feel when students were creating the da-zi-bao about the school and teachers? How do you think you would handle this situation, if you were a teacher at this time?
2. Class status had an impact Ji-li's life experiences during the Cultural Revolution in China. How might our students presently relate to the issues of class status? Are these experiences similar and/or different than what Ji-li experienced?
3. What impact did the Cultural Revolution have on the relationships that Ji-li had with her family, friends, and teachers? How did these relationships change throughout the book?
I found this book to be powerful in communicating about another time, culture and political system. One could grasp the power of being brainwashed in the midst of a powerful revolution.
ReplyDeleteI like the cross curriculum approach you provided in your ideas for implementing this text in the classroom. What a rich connection for social studies and understanding China through the eyes of Ji-Li Jiang. The East-west connection provides additional resources to enhance this understanding.
I thought this was a powerful book that highlighted another time, culture and political system. Ji-Li Jiang's story put understanding behind how people can become brainwashed to do incredible things based on the political power of the time.
ReplyDeleteI liked the resources you provided for teaching this text across content areas. What a powerful tool for teaching within the social studies classroom as well as the English classroom context. The East-West connections provide more tools for assisting with understanding China through cultural connections.
I agree, this is definitely a book you could across curriculum. I discuss that as an option in my blog about A Long Way Gone. These books are excellent ways for students to explore other cultures and compare cultures to their own. I like the idea of students conducting interviews with family members. Finding out about family history can foster adolescent identity construction.The interview process is also a great instructional tool to teach students how create and implement appropriate questions, hone in a hooks in the interview, and the overall process from developing questions to writing/sharing the information they found. Some really interesting stories could come from a project like this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This book was extremely powerful in that it created another time and culture that I particularly could not imagine being a part of. However, this was reality to Ji li Jiang. I think that your teaching strategies are excellent, especially because they consider the book before, during, and after the reading. I think these are ways that students can really connect with the novel in hands-on ways. I'm curious as to how students would react after reading this novel because it is so powerful. To actually see how children at their age level have reacted to such situations. For example, the di zi bao about their teachers and their teaching.
ReplyDeleteI think your list of tasks to do with students before, during and after reading this text are great. All too often I think students are just thrown into a text and expected to read it without much engagement with what they are reading until it is complete. The pre-teaching activities that you have are necessary to ensure students understand what they are reading, but I really liked your list of things to do while reading the text. It allows the students to not just read the text, but think about what they're reading.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuHl8rUbYuw&feature=related
ReplyDeleteThis You Tube clip was neat and looks student done. I love the idea of incorporating technology in with this book and talking to students aout censorship during the Cultural Revolution and even into China today. I think doing projects with students to look at how China is the same and diffrent would be an important lesson. This book also gives teachers to talk about some of the human rights violations that have gone on in China and some that continue even into today. When teaching this book it is essential I believe to make connections to today's world. Students as an extension could even look at other places like Iran and how the governments treat its people.