Response Paraph - Theme: So Far from the Bamboo Grove

The memoir So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins teaches readers to never give up, even during the most desperate situations. Because the Kawashima family is faced with many challenges due to World War II, Yoko, Ko, her mother, and her brother all learn to persevere to overcome obstacles. When the train Yoko, Ko, and Mrs. Kawashima were on was bombed, they decide to leave the train and walk to the far-off Seoul train station. To prevent themselves from being identified, Yoko, Ko, and their mother all put on Korean Communist army uniforms. Even though Yoko is badly wounded in both her ear and chest, she still persists and continues on with their journey to Seoul. Later on, Yoko also has to go through classmates laughing and taunting her because of the way she looked and her actions. In addition, even out in the cold winter snow with a broken shoe, Yoko also helps her sister by selling little handmade crafts to earn just a little bit of money for food. Yoko's brother, Hideyo, shows the same spirit of never giving up. He keeps walking and walking toward the Seoul train station, even though he barely has any energy left, and then faints at his limit. This book has taught me an important lesson of to never giving up and to persevere, even in the most difficult times.

Response Paragraph: Reaction - Amnesty International

The Amnesty International USA website's "refugee" section talks about Iraq's displacement crisis. Many refugees are struggling to survive outside of Iraq. Although some of them have been allowed to stay in other countries temporarily, they still fear going back to Iraq, where they could face death threats and worse. The Palestinian group is probably being hit the hardest. They have been specifically targeted and are not even allowed to leave the area.

I feel that the treatment people in Iraq are receiving is terrible and disgraceful. Although I know it's almost impossible, I wish for peace, or at least no wars or fighting. Some people are forced to flee just because of their religion! Even though some may think that people who believe in other religions are "stupid," that does not give them the right to treat others so harshly with death threats and more.I also believe that everyone should be allowed to choose where they want to live. Palestinians should not be forced to stay in Iraq. They also should not be denied access to other countries. In addition, I feel bad for those who have lost relatives and friends due to the fierce attacks in Iraq. However, I believe that Amnesty International is doing the right thing by trying to help these poor people resettle in safer places. I hope that the people in Iraq who are suffering because of this "displacement crisis" will soon have a nice place to live in and lead a successful life.

Theme - Red Scarf Girl

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The autobiography Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang teaches readers a to help each other out in hard times. Even though many people in this story were struggling during this tough situation due to the Cultural Revolution, they were still trying to help out family and friends in times of need. For example, when Ji-Li forgot her Precious Red Book for the Morning Benediction, Sun Lin-Lin cleverly thought of a way to save Ji-Li. Lin-Lin gave Ji-Li her red book cover so that Ji-Li could pretend she brought her book and would not receive punishment. Also, Ji-Li helped out around the house, after they had to fire Song PoPo, by buying and cooking food for her family. Ji-Li also promised to take care of her two siblings no matter what happened since she couldn't bear allowing them to live with anyone else. In addition, even after being fired, Song PoPo continued to help the Jiang family sweep the floors and make soup since she knew they were having a hard time after Ji-Li's mother became sick and her father was detained. This book has taught me that even in difficult times, lending a helping hand to those in need is important to being a better person.

Plot - Red Scarf Girl

The Red Scarf Girl is an autobiography about Ji-Li Jiang's life during the Cultural Revolution in China. The exposition of this book is where Ji-Li talked about her life before the revolution. She lived with her grandmother, mother, father, sister, brother, and a housekeeper in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Shanghai. She excelled at studies and had hoped to lead a successful life. All this changed with the start of the Cultural Revolution, the rising action. It brought distress and torment to the family. They had to fire Song Po-Po, their housekeeper so that they wouldn't receive punishment for "exploiting" people. The family's political background also hurt them during the revolution. Ji-Li's grandfather was a landlord, and landlords were thought to be ruthless in that time. Because of that, she was taunted at school and her father did not allow her to audition for the Liberation Army Arts Academy. The climax of the story made her family suffer in many ways. There were two climaxes: one being when their house was ransacked and the other was when her father was detained. Their family seemed suspicious to the Red Guards, so their house was searched and the Red Guards took away anything that seemed “fourolds,” or traditional. Many of their clothes and prized possessions were seized or destroyed. Even though Ji-Li's father did not do any thing wrong, he was detained. It caused the family distress and made them worry. The falling action, or solution, has only happened to one of the climaxes. We learned that it was Uncle Zhu who made up a false story about Ji-Li’s father to get himself out of custody, and that was why Ji-Li’s father was detained. However, their family never regained possession of the belongings that were taken away from them during the search. Since the problem has not been solved, there has also been no resolution. Ji-Li and her family are still struggling during the revolution. It only seems that Ji-Li's life seems to be getting worse, as she has just gotten kicked out of the Revolutionary Commitee. I have not finished reading the autobiography yet, so I can not yet identify the theme fully. However, I believe part of the message is that if you believe in yourself and are persistent, you pull through hard times quite easily.

Main Character - Red Scarf Girl

The Red Scarf Girl is an autobiography by Ji-Li Jiang that talks about the Cultural Revolution in China, as far as I have read. She was struggling to keep up with revolution in this trying time. She was born on Chinese New Year, and her name was specially chosen, meaning lucky and beautiful. As a child, Ji-Li always excelled at studies, and she hoped to go to a good high school, good college, and have a successful life. However, when she was twelve years old, in sixth grade, the Cultural Revolution began and changed her life.

Because of Ji-Li's family's political background, it made life hard for her family during the Cultural Revolution. They were always targeted by "Red Guards," who were supporters of Chairman Mao, or the founder of the Cultural Revolution. Her grandfather was a landlord, and landlords were looked down upon since they were supposedly cruel and treated their subjects ruthlessly. At school, she was made fun of by classmates, especially three boys, once being Du-Hai, because of her landlord grandfather. Therefore, she sometimes wished her grandfather was never a landlord or that she never had any ties with him. Also, due to her family's political background, Ji-Li's father did not allow her to audition for a dance training class for the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. When her house was ransacked, Ji-Li had her precious stamp collection taken away since it was considered "fourolds", or something that was traditional. It had taken her a long time and hard work to collect all her stamps.

Just like many other people, Ji-Li and her family were struggling to not be tortured and taunted during the Cultural Revolution.

*I have only read about halfway through the book. However, I believe that Ji-Li's opinion about Chairman Mao will reverse and she will turn against the Cultural Revolution and the new beliefs.

Setting - Red Scarf Girl

In the autobiography Red Scarf Girl, Ji-Li Jiang lived in China during the Cultural Revolution, which changed her life. She talks about her life during this time period, starting from 1966. Chairman Mao started the Cultural Revolution, which was changing the customs and traditions of the Chinese people. It could have possibly happened in other countries, but other country leaders did not choose to start this act. Ji-Li supported the act at first, but gradually, as the revolution continued she became less and less supportive, especially after a Da-Zi-Bao, which was a big public poster humiliating a person, was written about her.

People from all over China were following the Cultural Revolution and putting "new" customs in place of "old" Chinese traditions. Because of her political background, Ji-Li and her best friend, An-Yi, were often taunted by their classmates. She originally had hopes of going to good schools, but due to new rules, she must remain in the district and go to the same school as the classmates who always pick on her and make fun of her, even though she did nothing to harm them. In general however, Ji-Li seems to be less and less supportive of the Cultural Revolution; she is not as enthusiastic about it as she used to be.

Response Paraph - Theme: Scholarship Jacket

Marta is an eighth grade girl with a dream in the book The Scholarship Jacket, by Marta Salinas. Marta had a goal to get the scholarship jacket ever since her sister received it. The theme in this story is that you shouldn't let anything stand in your way. Growing up in a poor family was always hard for Marta since she couldn't participate in many school activities. This was her only chance to shine. She had been a straight A student since the beginning and looked forward to owning that jacket. However, just when she was about to get the scholarship jacket, you had to pay for it. Although her grandpa probably had enough money to pay for it, he refused to. He said that if you had to pay for a jacket, it wasn't a "scholarship" one anymore. Marta went up to the principal with a sad face and told him that her grandfather would not pay. The principal made an exception and Marta still ended up getting the scholarship jacket. Even though there was an obstacle on the way to getting her scholarship jacket, she didn't let anything stand in her way, not even that you had to pay money to get it. She kept walking along the path she thought was right and ended up reaching her goal. Even if there is something blocking your path, you shouldn't stop. Instead, you should keep fighting till you reach the end.