Tuesday, April 26, 2011
As you read...
As you read, identify some of the most trying decisions Ji-li must make. Her decisions are complicated by the pressure to become an "educable" child according to Communist standards and to break with her "black" family. How are Ji-li's decisions influenced by the Communist propaganda? Remember: you must do some higher-level reflecting on this, which means I am looking for you to do some analyzing or evaluating. This must be done by the end of the day on Sunday, May 8th.
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Two of the most trying decisions Ji Li had to make were if she was to go to the propaganda meeting or the questioning of if she should break away from her parents. These two decisions were greatly influenced by the Communist propaganda. Both situations were influnced by th propaganda. The children are brainwashed, so whatever chariman Mao believes or says, the children believe. So when Ji Li has to make a decision it all has to do with the Cultural revolution and propaganda. So it is influenced.
ReplyDeletePersonally, i think the most trying decision Ji-Li faced was when she had to decide weather or not she would change her last name and break away from her family or not. I think it's terrible she wanted to break away because her "class status" was so bad and she couldn't do anything that would draw attention to her due to the fact that she was afraid she would be humiliated by her class mates.
ReplyDeleteOne trying decision that Ji-Li had to make, like Joel said, was whether or not she should break away from her "black tyes", and leave her family or to just accept the fact that she'd be treated differently, badly. Also connected to the previous: whether she should testify against her father. The propaganda that if she leaves her family and testifies against her father she will have proved that she's a follower of Chairman Mao. Propaganda played an important part in her decisions because the Red Guards told them if they(the children of china) left their families they would be following Chairman Mao and not following the "four news".
ReplyDeleteOne of the most trying decisions that Ji-Li had to make was thinking about chaning her name to try to get out of her "black family". I think it is wrong that she even has to think about doing that at her age just to impress everyone around her. If she did break the black tyes ,such as her name, it doesn't always mean that she is going to be accepted because if she has even one tiny slip up everyone else will hold that agianst her. So I truly believe that it was a great idea that she decided not to change her name.
ReplyDeleteTwo of the most difficult decisions Ji-Li had to make was if she was going to break away from her "black family" and get a knew name. I think that it is terrible that she would have to break away from her family to have a knew class status. It is really good that she decided not to and to succeed in everything she can to get herself honor.
ReplyDeleteI think it was difficult for Ji-Li to tell her friend about her father, even though it turned out to help their friendship. Now, Ji-Li has a friend who understands what she is going through, and has had her own home ransacked. I think that later on, they will help each other through struggles with the "black family class status." On another note, it also helps you realize that so many people were affected by fourolds and communism. There are hundreds of people, and Ji-Li happened to meet one of them. She didn't even know about it, until her friend told her that her house had been searched too. I think Ji-Li was right to tell her friend, even though it was hard, because it will bring two struggling people together.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion her biggest choice was when she wanted to change her name, like Tommy said. This was especially hard for her and had she actually changed her name it would have led to a totally different plot and the story would have changed. I don't think that Ji-li realized just what changing her name would have meant, if she had known I feel she would not have even considered going to the station. After she realized what it meant i'm glad she left. If I had been asked to abandon my parents like that i would not have been able to so i think Ji-li was very upset and wanted things to go back to normal.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ji Li faced many tough decisions such as telling her friend what happened to her dad, the propaganda meeting, and if she would testify against her dad. Overall, I think that the hardest decision was if she wanted to change her name and break with her family. I think that she might break with her family because she has basically been brain washed her whole life to think that chairman Mao and cummunism are the most important. Even more important than your family.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, one of the most trying decisions Ji Li had to make was whether to change her name or not. Ji Li is always getting put down because of her class status and she felt that if she changed her name she would not be related to the black part of her family anymore. This was a hard decision to make because while she was being greatly influenced by pro communists, she didn't want to betray her family. In the end, her decision to keep her name as it is was a very brave one and shows how loyal she is to the ones she loves.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with Gerrardo. The most trying is wether or not to either change her name, status, and to leave her family. Thats a big decision that may or may not drastic ally change your future. And how all the teachers and the police dude keep on pressuring her to think about detacated her life for Chairman Mao, or her family.
ReplyDeleteI think another tough decision would be telling Chang Hong about her background. I don't know if I agree with her decision, but it was very courageous what she did.
ReplyDelete;)
I think one of JI-Li most trying decisions is when she wanted to change her last name or not. If she carried out the deed, she would not be a Jiang and her family would not help her if she got injured like what with Aunt Xi-Wen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Braxton and that Chairman Mao and Communism have brain washed Ji-Li's life to the point of changing her last name and break with her family.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the choice of breaking with her family or staying with her family was a main choice. She was influenced both ways. Her heart told her family is family, they're true. Her friends, surroundings, and other non-family adults were telling her to break free. I feel bad for Ji-li. She must have had such a hard time, with everything to consider, and think about at such a young age. She shouldn't have had that thrown at her.
ReplyDeleteI think Ji-Li's biggest decision was whether or not she wanted to change her name. I thought her decision was a good one by not changing her name. Ji-Li realized that she only wanted to change her name because she would break away from the landlords in her family not including her mother and father. Also, if she did change her name she would have a harder time in life and it would change her future dramatically. I think the communist propoganda influenced Ji-Li's decision because she was a "black" family and they had very strict rules for "black" families. The communist propoganda limited Ji-Li's future.
ReplyDeleteThe most trying decision to me was when Ji-Li made the choice to push through the difficult times her family was going though. She could just start her life over and be an "educable" child. This path could lead her to great success, but she would always have the guilt of leaving her family to suffer on her back. The reason it is such a tough decision was because she didn't know better. Her whole life she was taught the best thing ever was the Communist Party. Family was nothing compared to the Communist Party.The children were all brain washed only believing Chairman Mao is the greatest. For Ji-Li's life the Cultural Revolution only brought difficult times.
ReplyDeleteJi-Li made a lot of tough decisions during her childhood in the cultural revolution. One that I think is the most impacting was when she hid the letter her mother told her to hide in Little White's litter box. When she did this she sort of "proved" her loyalty to her family and how much she cared for them. But, doing this she also managed to tell "Thin face" what "side" she was on.
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ReplyDeleteI think the hardest and most trying decision Ji-Li had to make was when she had to decide either to leave her "black family" behind or to keep her name and continue to be humiluiated by her friends and teachers. I believed she made the rigth choice by staying loyal to her family and not changing her name.
ReplyDelete:)
One of the most trying decisions Ji-Li had to make was whether or not to change her name to stop being treated like a "black whelp" and be considered an "educable child". This was hard because she had to decide if she really wanted to break ties with her family or just the name it had. Another hard decision she had to make was when the man at her dad's theater wanted her to completely break ties with her family, also so she would be considered an "educable child". Both of these decisions were made harder by the promise she had made to herself to protect her family and do whatever was good for them.
ReplyDeleteHappy mothers day!!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteJi-Li had a lot of decisions she had to make.
ReplyDeleteOne most important one was weather she would become a child of Chairman Mao or stay with her parents. This is a very difficult decision because she wants to have a good easy life at school and be able to do things she wants to do but can't because of her family background. She also wants to stay with her family and help them through the rough times too. She knew she wanted to stay with her family but Chairman Mao has brainwashed all the children in trying to make them brake from their families no matter how bad it is.
I agree with nearly everyone that Ji-Li's greatest choice of her life was either to go off and change her name to be separated from her "black" family, so she wouldn't be treated like she was any longer,or to stay the way she was and live a bad life.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with nearly everyone that her hardest dessision was seperating with her family or becoming an educable child. I think she felt that she needed to take care of her family while her mom was sick and her dad was detained. If she were have seperated from her "black" family then she would have been able to do the things that she couldnt have with her class status but also no one would have been able to take care of the family and they probally wouldnt have been where they are today.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, Ji-Li faces many life-altering decisions. In my opinion, the most important one was whether she would break with her family and follow Chairman Mao or stay with her family and become an enemy of the public. She ended up chosing to stay with her family. Propaganda influenced this decision because Thin-Face mentioned the article in the "Worker's Revolt" about her family's past, even though she was not even part of it. This mad her very angry as well as sad, so she decided not to follow Chairman Mao.
ReplyDeleteJi-li may be a child, but she is forced apon several dessions that most adults cant even make. She is constanly getting forced to make the big desion on if she should break from her "black" family and follow the great Chairman Mao. She slowly realizes that her familey is more importune then the cultral revolution. The government, friends, and even school teachers put stress on her. I think what she did was necssary and more of the kids her age should of done the same so less people would of gotten hurt.
ReplyDeleteps
ReplyDeleteHAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being from a family with "Black Ties" must of been hard for Ji-Li. The Communist Propaganda convinced her, (And Everybody Else) that Chairman Mao didn't make any mistakes, and that being a Red Guard would be the highest honor. But things soon started to change for her. In order for her to be praised anything, she would have to break away from here family to be come an "educable child." She would also have to testify against her father. As Steven said, she slowly realizes that family is more important than the Cultural Revolution.
ReplyDeleteLike others said, I think the most trying decision was whether or not to change her name. You want to be loyal to your family but with your own future at stake you have to decide which is more important. There was also when she was admitting her background. It must be hard admitting such negative information to anyone.
ReplyDeleteI think that the hardest decision was whether Ji-Li should leave her "black family". You want to be there for your family and in this case be able to support them but you also want to be able to have a future. I support her decision because family should be a big part of your life and they supported Ji-Li so she decided to support them.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest choice was for JI lI to decide whether she would live a free life and change her name or keep her name and be know as a part of a black family forever. i could never make this decision even though i would probably stay with my family. i can not imagine actually making it in real life
ReplyDeleteI think the most difficult decision for Ji-Li was at the end of the story when they were ransacked for the second time and had to hide the letter. She was given the job and rather then to turn it in and break from her family she hid it. And on top of that she was asked where they could find the letter and she made the decision not to, so she ultimately made the decision to be loyal to her family rather than to Chairman Mao.
ReplyDeleteI believe the hardest decision Ji-Li had to make was if she wanted to break with her family or stay with them and basically ruin her social life. She was only 12 or 13 and she had to make this decision. It's amazing that they would make such a young person make this decision. Also, ji-Li knew, even though they didn't say it, that her family and her would most likely be beaten and punished if she decided to stay with her family.
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