Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thoughts
When you come across something in the reading that strikes you in some way (it could be shocking, weird, wonderful, etc.), write about it here and put your thoughts with it. Remember, it's important for you to do some analysis or evaluation with it. With this portion, I want you to post your own once, and respond to other students' postings twice by the end of the novel. Remember, I am looking for higher level thinking on your post as well as your two responses. I look forward to reading what you have to say.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it was weird what the kids were saying about the teachers. One kid wrote that a teacher was trying to make the student non communist by giving him a piece of bread when he forgot his lunch. Then the kids went to the old man's house and insulted him for not letting them pick his leaves off his tree. It's terrible that all the kids are brainwashed by Chairman Mao. Reading this book makes me grateful that I live here in America where we are free and we can express ourselves in anyway we want to(:
ReplyDeleteI thought it was terrible that the people at the theater would not let Ji-Li talk to her father when she brought him the new clothes and the soup they only let her see what they were doing to him. If I was in that position i would have lost it because a father is very important to his child. A father is a role model, he helps you with everthing in your when it comes to school, personal matters like a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and any other problems you have. The last thing I have to say is that it strikes me every time that Ji-Li has something go wrong in her life she is always so strong and brave for the rest of her family, but on the inside all she wants to do is be like the rest of her family and cry.
ReplyDeleteTo elaborate on what Megan's saying, I agree that it was absolutely..... odious ( yes, I believe that's the word) to not let Ji-Li speak to her father. Even the stuff that she brought him may not even get to him! They refused to take the soup, and he may not even be given the clothes. She is trying to remind him that there are people out there that still love him, but the Red Guards are pushing her away. Another thing I found shocking was how Ji -Li saw her father. She saw her father, who was her idol, and she wanted to be just like him, stooped and hurt. She saw her father cry, which, as shown later in the book, haunts her, because she is not used to seeing her idol cry.
ReplyDeleteOne really good thing that Ji-Li did was to not ever give in to peer pressure and to keep trying to do her best in her work. Ji-Li in the book is a very bright and talented girl who if she tries can do great things like in the presentation she did. I really hope that she doesn't give in with all of the pressure and maybe son to come pressure from new classmates.
ReplyDeleteTommy defiantly has a point about living here in America where we are free and we can express ourselves in anyway we want to. After reading even this much of the book, it makes you think that that time period I would not want to be i China.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really struck me was when Ji-Li's dad came home only to pick up some clothes. She knew he had done nothing wrong, since the friend who lied about it confessed to lying, and, yet the Red Guards still took him away. Another thing that was interesting was when Teacher Zhang chose Ji-Li for the propaganda group, even though he was completely aware of her class status. I kind of felt proud of him for choosing her for the person she is, and not on her ancestry.
ReplyDeleteI really found it interesting when Ji Li didn't break from her family. I thought she had a lot of love for her family.
ReplyDeleteSomething that wasnt very big but stuck out to me was that the teacher at her junior high school was teaching English. And foriegn ties are counted as four olds. So I dont see how he would get away with that. Also in teaching the students English the first things they taught them was, "Long live Chairman Mao!" Which just shows that they praise Chairman Mao and he is more important then anything as they teach the kids.
ReplyDeleteSomething that really stuck out to me was the way the red guards were "fixing" Ji-Li's father. They were forcing him (and many others) to work for their "bad" deeeds. Instead of talking to them the red guards are forcing her dad to use labor to fix what he did.
ReplyDeleteWhat really struck me was how loyal Ji Li is to her family. Even though she was born into a "black family" and she wanted to change her name, she never broke with her family. I would think that even though it is her family, because of what they are teaching in schools and what chairman Mao is saying, she would break with her family. This really suprised me.
ReplyDeleteLike what Michael and Tommy said this really has you thinking of how lucky we are to live in America and be free. Most of us take this for granite, but after reading this book i have a whole new respect, of how lucky we are.
ReplyDeleteLike what Cory said, I also found it suprising of how they are trying to "fix" her dad. I would think they might want to at least try to talk first and then use the physical labor. But in this case they just went straight to the labor. It is suprising.
ReplyDeleteWhat really struck me is that the kids who wrote the dazi bao were mad at Ji Li's aunt for complaing to the school that the kids took some of her leaves from her plant. I don't get why the kids would be mad when they stole from her and they were yelling at her and making her read the dazi bao that they wrote about her. Like what Cori said I find it weird how they are trying to fix her dad when they don't even know what he is doing wrong if he is doing anything wrong. Also, what Tommy said it makes me appraciate living in America because how bad their country was.
ReplyDeleteI found it very striking how Ji Li decides to suddenly tell Chang Hong about her class status and about her father getting detained. Even though she has only known her for a short time, she still trusts her enough to open up and tell her about her personal problems. I also found it very heartwarming how Song Po Po is still helping the Jiang family by cleaning and bringing them food. This shows that Song Po Po and the Jiang family are very close and that Song Po Po is willing to do anything to help them through these tough times.
ReplyDeleteMany people have their own political opinions and I respect everyone's beliefs. America is totally against communism. (obviously)Communism has benefits for their citizens but also many cons. Communism depends on their leader. Chinas leader Chairman Mao thinks he is doing the right thing, but not only the children, brainwashing the entire country!!! Everyone in China thinks he is awesome, but really hes gone BANANAS!!! Like what Tommy said, im proud to be American!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with erardo when he said that. I think that if my family had a bad background, I would wait for someone to find out.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's weird why the students made a da-zi-bao on Ji-Li and her teacher because she excelled in his class. It's rude and mean to create a bad message against a teacher just because you didn't do good in it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gerardo when he said that it was heart-warming when Song Po-Po decided to stay at the and clean up when she was laid off. It's nice to have friends who are always there for you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan K. and I would have been furious with the Red Guards for not letting me hug my own father. Also, I agree with Megan when she said that Ji-Li is always strong and continues to be brave on the outside when she wants to cry like everybody else on the inside.
ReplyDeleteI think Tommy is absolutly true that we are lucky to live in America because all over the world people maybe forced to do something they don't normally do just so they can be like everyone else. Most people don't even care or know about how much people go throw just trying to fit. But some people will never fit in and thats I am truly grateful that I live in America.
ReplyDeleteLike what Michael said it is amazing how Ji-Li didn't give into the peer pressure. Every where Ji-Li went she was surrounded by pressure to break with her black family such as Chairmen Jin, Chang Hong, the Red Guard Committee, and almost everyone else in her life. If that happened to me I honestly wouldn't know what I would do because i have never been under that kind of pressure but I would like to think I would stay with my family no matter the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to punch "Thin-face" in the face when he gave Ji-Li the horrible question. Why would any sensible person ask a CHILD such a question. If I was in her position, I have no clue what I would have done. I feel horrible for her, and hopes she makes the right choice. I also am totally agreeing with everyone, and am proud to be American:)
ReplyDeleteIn the part in the book when Ji-Li was about to cahnge her name at first I really thought she was going to do it. Then when she thought about the consequences about what she was about to do I felt sort of "proud" of her because she realized how importent her family really was to her.
ReplyDeleteIn the book I thought the whole Chinese Cultural Revolution started with the four olds. I thought the four olds was very stupid because there were so many things that you couldn't do. For example, any pants with a leg narrower than eight inches for women or 9 inches for men would be considered a four old. I found it shocking and weird that people would be very brainwashed over these four olds.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Braxten that it was shocking that they wrote a dazi bao at Ji-Li's aunt for her being mad at the students for picking leaves at her trees.I think this shows that dazi bao's were for things that were so little and really not neccesary to write about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alyssa that I felt proud of Ji-Li for not switching her name because she realised how important her family really was to her. Also,I think if she did switch her name it would change the whole story and have a big impact on Ji-Li's future.
ReplyDeletea lot of people in the U.S. take important things in life for granted. Like freedom of speech, which it seemed that no one had except for Chairman Mao. Americans also take for granted the concrete things we use to live. Ji-Li and her family literally had a few straw mats and some clothes but that was it. When I hear my friends and classmates talk about what they want to do when they are older, i think about how if we were living in Communist China under Chairman Mao's command, and how much more limited we would be on our job choices, especially if we had bad political background. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that we are lucky to be where we are, and "Red Scarf Girl"(idk how to underline book titles on this) furthers my point. I dont know if Ji-Li knew how restricted her choices were under Chairman Mao's command, but I know that Ji-Li sees this now, because she moved to the U.S. and describes it in the epilogue.
ReplyDeleteResponding to what Alyssa said, i dont think i could ever change my name because of how much shame i would feel towards my family. Examples like this and like when she refused to talk against her father in public show that, just as she said towards the end, she loves her family more than the government and chairman mao and i respect her for doing that.
ReplyDeletei agree with cory. i think they shouldve had more of a interrogation with Ji-Li's father, as opposed to making him do physical punishment, because just saying "Admit what you did" over and over solves nothing. Also, is the only reason that Ji-Li's father was locked up for so long is because he was the son of a landlord?
ReplyDeleteI hate how her mother could even suggest sending her sister away. I actually got teary during that part because even though my sister has issues, I still love her and couldn't bear to never see her again. I would never be able to function without her, and i think that's how Ji-Li felt. I probably would run away if that ever happened to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with justin. Even though I have more reason to want to change my last name(Strange, need I say more), I still wouldn't. Just because I get "teased" about my last name, I wouldn't do it. Also, with Ji-Li, I think it was more of a If-this-person-jumped-off-a-bridge-would-you scenario, because she saw other people break ties with their families and how great they were without them.
ReplyDeleteI agree very much with Tory. Even though I'm not a violent person(haha), I really would like to punch Thin Face for asking a little child if they wanted to be considered an "educable child" by basically running away from her family. There is so much wrong with that. Where would she stay if she did break ties with them? She wasn't old enough to buy a house or earn any money.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was surprising about how their school was. They could just treat the teachers disrespectfully. The students showed no respec what so evef. Also it was surprising that the teachers dismissed the students whenever and could trust them that they would go home and study instead of staying at school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joel. Being born into a family with bad background must of been hard for Ji-Li but she stayed with her family. She was never completely brainwashed into breaking and going with Chairman Mao.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tommy. We are very grateful that we aren't being forced to do things. I am very glad that we don't have to worry about being brain washed everyday.
ReplyDeletelol! I agree with natalie........ Also, I agree with Gerardo. It would be really hard to tell a friend about her situation, and hope they understand, because if not, they lose that friend
ReplyDeleteI thought it was weird that Ji-Li didn't break from her family because all they had done for her was make her life much harder than it had to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Natalie that the children had to respect for the people who will change their lives.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Cory about how unfair Ji-Li's father's punishment was, especially because his "crime" wasn't something he could do anything about.
ReplyDeleteWhat really shocked me throughout the book was how brainwashed the children were, even though many of them were very intelligent students. Almost all of the time they critized or humiliated others, they repeated the sayings of the newspaper, radio, or from Chairman Mao. I don't think they even realized what they were saying. For example, when Ji- Li and An Yi were arguing with Yang Fan and Du Hai, Du Hai said "Respect the teachers? That's the nonsense of 'techers dignity' You two are typical 'teachers' obedient little lambs,' do you know that?" These were just recited words from the newspaper he read.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Tory was saying about Thin-Face asking Ji-Li if she wanted to be an educable child or a black whelp. However, I disagree with punching him in the face. If I lived in China during this time and did punch Thin-Face, I would have most likely had to go to struggle meetings and be detained or some other terrible thing. Like you said, I would not have an answer to that question and instead, I would probably try to escape or something.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Peyton has to say about Ji-Li's father not coming home and especially how Teacher Zhang chose Ji-Li for the propaganda group. If my dad was detained like that and came home just for clothes, I am not sure what I would do, but I do know that I would be devastated. Like Peyton, I also found it surprising when the teacher chose Ji-Li for the propaganda group because she has a bad political bakground, and the propaganda group has a lot to do with politics, so it just didn't make sense for Teacher Zhong to chose her out of all of the students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Haley in that they were so brainwashed that they were almost like robots. They would do anything they could to prove to someone that they were more for the communist party then the other person. They would put a person to work if they were listening to the radio from a foriegn nation. After Chairman Mao died people started to realize that what they were doing was wrong, which proves that Chairman Mao was supporting all of it and controlling all of his "robots".
ReplyDeleteJust on how hateful all of the students were to their once loved teachers. Like what tommy said, simple things turned into a insult and teachers were shunned and given a black class status for stupid things that really are acts of kindness or that are needed to be done for the sake of the student. Also, like what Hailey said, they were in fact brain washed, it depends on what your terms are but mine are that they are tought something that is based on an opion and to follow it and do not belive in anything else. In other words, they are not open minded and are not allowing new ideas to flow in. Another shock i had is that students would blame the teachers for thier own failure. Like the students said in the Da-Zi-bao, that the teachers favor students and "make" the students repeat grades even though its their own fault for not trying hard enough or not trying at all. The Cultral Revolution tore China apart. Not only that, but it hurt and scared little kids like Ji-Li.
ReplyDeleteAlec made an excellent point! The teacher was teaching English, witch is considered four olds. It could possibly be that because English somewhat world wide, in that most people know a little of it, that that was his excuse for teaching it.
ReplyDeleteI was struck with what felt like a BOWLING BALL when Ji-Li's dad was detained. It was very depressing. I am somewhat relived she got to see him,(sorta), but other than that, I am just plain shocked. I can't really think of what else to add, to be quite honest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan, it was extremely mean to not let her talk to her father. It seemed like they were just trying to scare her by showing her what they did to people who were detained.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entire book it always seemed that the officials of the revolution were always looking to punish someone for four olds. They were looking for the smallest excuse just to get someone into trouble. The only reason i can think of would be because maybe each red guard or whoever punishes people are trying to be the best by punishing the most.
ReplyDeleteHallie's point is one I was considering as well. If the kids keep acting as this for the rest of their lives China would never get out of the depressing communism it was in. I can not remember any children besides Ji-Li (at times) who really wanted a change.
ReplyDeleteJustin makes a great point. What if America had a change in its ways just as China did. Many of us would be experiencing the exact same difficulties. We never appreciate the huge things the U.S. does to make our lives better.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting how terrible the students talked to the teachers! Today that is NOT acceptable whatsoever! Today, kids are atleast taught to respect their teachers. Eventhough some don't follow that rule, atleast we were taught it and not to have disrespectful attitudes to them.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of Alec's "robot" idea, it almost seems like what Hitler was doing with the Nazi's. The Nazi people were following Hitler and they really didn't think much about it just because they wanted to please him. Amazing what the effect of mob mentality has on society.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tommy on how we are so lucky to be able to make our own decisions abe able to live our lives without that constant fear of what the government was saying about what we were doing. So very thankful for this freedom!
ReplyDeleteI think that it was very shocking when Ji-li went into the police station and even thought about changing her name. This made me kinda question her loyalty to her family. I'm still very glad that she did not change her name though because the most important thing is family and if she would have changed it then she would have lost her family.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, i agree. they shouldnt been aloud to treat the teachers that way. In America you would have gotten in so much trouble if you were to treat them that way. i think this shows that to get respect you must give respect.
ReplyDeleteShea i agree the four olds were so dumb its not even funny. i cant believe that the people were lead to believe they were right. the whole government system was so corrupt and stupid there so i guess its not much of a surpise
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me the most was at that end of the story she finally saw that she had always been loyal to her family then to Chairman Mao and cared about them the most not to break from her family. Because all throughout the story she was really set on the idea that she didn't like living under family's class status and her "black" family's name. but in the end she realized every decision she had made was to stick with her family and to be loyal to them.
ReplyDeleteI also am surprised at the respect level the children had for their teachers. Just like what Alison said today in this time everybody was told to respect their teachers and to treat people the way they would want to be treated. But during the Cultural revolution they were taught the complete opposite and to only obey the rules of Chairman Mao basically.
ReplyDeleteI too made the comparison to Chairman Mao and what kind of influence and power he had over people to Hitler and what he had done and Alison was right because it is amazing what mob m,entality can do to a country and not even knowing anything about the subject the were fighting for and to just please someone to stay safe. To me in these types of situations i feel that everyone would be confused but would block that with fear of not being apart of something big and fearing the consequences for being called a "traitor" by your country.
ReplyDeleteWhat I thought was really amazing that they woud do to a kid is make her make the most importent decision of her life at such a young age. She is only 13 and she has to decide if she is going to break with her family or become an outcast.
ReplyDelete@joel
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, many peple take our freedom for granted and if you think about it, it is really amazing that we are as free as we are. I;m glad to live in America and live in our graceful freedom
yeah, what trent said
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Natalie, I think it must have been very hard to be born into a bad political background family. I give her props for not breaking,and caving in to all the drama.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all three of Alison's comments.It's completely true how no one can talk that way to teachers anymore, which is actually good! Students are brought up to respect the people who they see every day, and the people who help them achieve their goals. Also, the robot idea is completely accurate! It describes the people as brainwashed, but I'm not entirely sure that during the holocaust people were brainwashed. I don't think it was Hitler's goal to have people completely brainwashed.
ReplyDeleteLike what tommy said, simple things turned into a insult and teachers were shunned and given a black class status for stupid things that really are acts of kindness or that are needed to be done for the sake of the student.
ReplyDeleteAlso, like what Hailey said, they were in fact brain washed, it depends on what your terms are but mine are that they are tought something that is based on an opion and to follow it and do not belive in anything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with trent as well, i mean, i struggle to make symple dessions that are ussaly good, like, choosing a new phone or picking what starbucks drink i want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hailey when she said that the kids were brainwashed and that it was wrong to teach them Communism
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tommy when he was talking about the kids being rude and making fun of their teachers. They should appreciate what the teachers do for them
ReplyDeleteI was surprised and disapointed when Ji-Li Jiang went to the police station to change her name. I would never think about changing my name and seperating from my family because my grandpa was a landlord. Families arent perfect but there is no reason to cut ties with your relatives. I was also surprised at the amount of work the kids had to do at the rice camp and even when you get injured you have to push through. Although it would make you a stronger individual
ReplyDeleteLike what Jakob was saying about the kids being worked literally "to the bone" at the rice camps I think it was sort of unfair how they were doing all of this just to try to "erase" their bad class status.
ReplyDeleteI also agree on Haleys point on how these kids really were brainwashed by what they thought was the "good" side. It makes me wonder that if the childrens parents taught them in their early years that communism was not good would most of them still believe in the goverment? Or, like Ji-Li, would they stay with their parents?
ReplyDeleteposting again since you didnt see it
ReplyDeleteLike what Cori said I find it weird how they are trying to fix her dad when they don't even know what he is doing wrong if he is doing anything wrong. Also, what Tommy said it makes me appraciate living in America because how bad their country was.
I don't agree with Jacob. I actually thought that Ji Li was eventually going to change her name. She really wanted people to stop comparing her with her grandfather and she was willing to do almost anything to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alison as children should respect their elders. In China, children were going around embarrassing adults and torturing them to believe in communism.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with avery. Ji-Li loved her family though even if it means staying together through hard times. I think she made the right choice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with thomas because kids should not be the ones to worry. The red gaurds have kids going around and in sulting adults! I do not think it is right for kids to be doing this.
ReplyDelete