Hangin’
with the Red Scarf Girl is an end of unit exploration
of the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976).
This is your opportunity to pull together all that you have
learned in Language Arts and World Cultures during the past four weeks.
You should refer to the Red Scarf Girl, your class notes,
various handouts, writing and poster assignments, videos, and the
resources included below. You
are expected to use your best writing and revising skills in order to
turn in a high quality product. By
the way, as you know from our year together, learning always goes better
when you’re having fun. Look
for places to smile at the humor, cry at the pathos, and play along with
the premise.
The
Process:
»
Choose three activities in any tic-tac-toe design: horizontally,
vertically, or diagonally. The
list of words will be given to you and the definitions can be
found in the glossary of the Red Scarf Girl on pages 273-285.
There are 77 words in the glossary, but you’re only going to
have 30 words to pick from. Have
fun while learning some difficult vocabulary!
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Compare
at
least six vocabulary words (three sets comparing two
words)
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Construct
a
crossword puzzle using
eight vocabulary words- include an answer key
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Illustrate
four
vocabulary words with colorful drawings
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Demonstrate
pronunciation
of at least ten vocabulary words by writing a rap
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Investigate
and
explain the origin of four vocabulary words
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Create
Haiku
or free verse poem using at least four vocabulary words
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Classify
at
least eight vocabulary words according to: ___
(categories)
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Create
a
song or jingle using six vocabulary words
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Paraphrase
the
definition of ten vocabulary words in your own words
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Details
on the Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution required
article
The
Great Leap Forward (Propaganda posters with explanations)
The
Great Leap Forward (Simple Overview 1958-1961)
The
Great Leap Forward BBC Special Overview
The
Cultural Revolution in Brief (Simple Overview #1)
The
Cultural Revolution in Brief (Simple Overview #2)
The
History of the Cultural Revolution (1964-1976)
The
Cultural Revolution Decade (Advanced Reader)
C.R.
Photos #1 C.R.
Photos #2
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The Great
Leap Forward
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The Cultural
Revolution
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Positive Aspects
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Negative
Aspects
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Write
a Letter to the Editor of the Communist Chinese People’s Daily
newspaper explaining why you think Chairman Mao was either right or
wrong in what he did.
2.
Four
Olds Poster Assignment.
Review the chapter on ‘Four
Olds’ (pages 19-37) in the Red Scarf Girl for ideas.
In this
assignment you will
demonstrate your understanding of what the 'Four Olds' were and how
art
and language were combined by the Red Guards to advance the Great Proletariat
Cultural Revolution. Now, design a poster which might have
been used in the Red Guard
attacks on the 'Four Olds'.
Your poster must be:
---Made
out of red construction paper with black or white letters
---Must contain a protest slogan
which could have been from Cultural Revolution China
Note: Think about what the Red
Guards role was in protest and enforcement of the '4 Olds'
---Must contain a quote from
Chairman Mao-recommended websites:
---Must contain an illustration
to accompany or match the theme
"Destroying
the four-olds was a new battle, but an important one: It would keep
China from losing her ideals. Though we were not facing real guns or
real tanks, this battle would be even harder, because our enemies, the
rotten ideas and customs we were used to were inside ourselves."
(pages 28- 29).
3.
Life
during the Cultural Revolution Diary Entry.
Now
that you’ve read this memoir account of life during the Cultural
Revolution, pick a
particular viewpoint on a particular incident
recorded in Red Scarf Girl and write
a half-
page to one page diary entry.
Your diary entry should clearly give details about the
particular
incident (along with the page numbers in parenthesis) to start the diary
entry.
Remember that you
are taking on another person’s view point and your job is try to write
what you imagine that person was seeing, experiencing and feeling
before, during and after
the incident.
The writing techniques of “show, don’t tell” and vivid
vocabulary will make
your diary entry outstanding.
You may choose the viewpoint of a Red Guard member, a
teacher, a
shop owner, or one of Ji Li Jiang’s family members.
You may not write from the
viewpoint of Ji Li Jiang herself.
4.
Personal
Poem:
In Red Scarf Girl Ji-li must deal with some tragic
experiences, such as An Yi’s grandmother committing suicide, her
father being detained, losing Song Po-Po, etc. Choose
one of these experiences, or another
one, and write a poem about it. Your poem should
make it clear what experience from the book is the inspiration for your
poem, also include the page number(s) of the experience in parenthesis
after the title of your poem. Before you add the completed poem to
your Dossier, consider how it looks on the page.
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Your poem should not
rhyme (free verse)
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Your poem should
be at least ten lines
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You should write
the poem from the point of view of Ji-li or as if you are from the
time period of the Cultural Revolution (describe the feelings and
emotions involved)
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Certain words
that we use today in the United States would not be used back then,
therefore, choose your words carefully (remember your RSG
T.T.T. words)
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Use similes,
metaphors, and/or personification to ‘spice it up’ if
appropriate
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Make good
decisions about line breaks and word choices
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You
may choose to illustrate your poem with an appropriate picture or
visual metaphor to enhance the reader's understanding of your
message
5.
Analyzing Poster Art:
Poster art is a means of communicating ideas about culture and
society. The Chinese
posters from this website once traveled the world
as a cultural showpiece and were very
influential.
Today, they are valuable collector’s items.
First,
read the introduction to the Cultural Revolution poster site.
Then, click on posters #21, #35, #40, #45, #53. Think about what
you see in each of these posters.
Make sure to read the accompanying explanation with each poster. Now,
spend some time browsing other posters which interest you. Think
about how the subject matter, color and style of each poster were
carefully used to communicate a message.
For help, you can look back at your class notes from the lessons that
used paintings and posters to compare and contrast various aspects of
dynastic and communist China.
Answer
the following questions in a well-written one-half to one page essay.
How are the images similar to or different from what was
happening in China during the Cultural Revolution.
Give examples from your book, class notes, and the posters.
How were the artists, artistic styles and subject matters of
posters during the Cultural Revolution determined?
How were posters used to help advance the ideas of the Cultural
Revolution?
Cultural Revolution
Poster Site
Site
on Types of Propaganda
6.
Mao Buttons/Badges:
Look at these
examples of Mao buttons/badges and read the memoir by an anonymous
high
school student from 1969. At
the height of the Cultural Revolution wearing these badges
was all the
rage. When new badges were
coming out, people would line up for hours, even
overnight, to get one.
Sounds like Beanie Babies! The
cult
of Mao’s personality can
somewhat be explained by the fact that
Mao was not like the vastly wealthy emperors with
their heavenly status.
Mao had close ties to the common people, especially laborers and
farmers.
Cultural
Revolution Stamps
Mao
Badges: "How my Classmates Envied Me!"
Mao
Photos #1
Write
a paragraph to explain how Mao badges symbolized that closeness.
Think about American culture today.
Who do you think has a personality cult today that influences the
thoughts, ideas about life, style of dress, and popular phrases of
“the people”, of you and other middle school age comrades today?
Design a “__________ badge” to show your closeness to
the cultural leadership of that person.
Write a paragraph to explain your choice of person and how
they are an influence in today’s popular culture. Be sure
that your paragraph is written in a persuasive style and clearly
identifies specific examples which demonstrate the cultural leadership
of that person, and describes the symbolism and graphics on your badge.
7. Final
Question:
Chairman
Mao once said, [Our purpose is] ‘to ensure that literature and art
fit well into
the whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that
they operate as powerful
weapons for uniting and educating the people
and for attacking and destroying the enemy,
and that they help fight the
enemy with one heart and one mind.’
Considering
all that you have learned in this Language Arts/World Cultures unit, how
did literature and art both unite and divide the hearts and minds of
China’s people during the Cultural Revolution?
Your
answer to this question should be in the form of a multi-paragraph
essay. Each paragraph
should have a clear topic sentence and specific supporting details from
all that you have learned during the unit.
Your essay should be a persuasive piece incorporating clear
opinions, forceful language, propaganda-like phrases, and a convincing
argument so that your reader will agree with your viewpoint by the end
of your piece.
The
Resources:
