Sunday, August 24, 2014

Illustrious Artist


The Red Scarf Girl
Ji-Li Jiang
Prologue, and chapters 1-2


This drawing represents the night when Ji-Li was telling her parents about how she was invited to audition to be part of the Liberation Army as a traveling dancer. She was very excited, and thought she had a great chance, because she was very talented and flexible. Ji-Li was very honored that she was chosen, and so were her siblings. Almost all children idled the Liberation Army soldiers, because they helped make China a better place, and Ji-Li wanted to be part of it. 

      On the other hand, you can see by their expressions that her Grandma, Dad, and Mom are not very excited. This is because; they wouldn't pass the cultural investigation. This makes me start to think that her family isn't completely Chinese. Maybe, she is part American and this would be bad, because the army fought against Americans to get them out of China. The investigation could be unpleasant, because Ji-Li's family might not be accepted if they are part American, even if they don't want to be. I chose this scene, because I thought it was going to be very important to the book, and I thought that it would be talked about later on. Therefore, I wanted people to remember this scene when they go back to look at older blog posts.

4 comments:

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  2. I really like your drawing Mary it really represents the scene well. I disagree that they might not be Chinese. Because I do think that her dad, mom, and grandma do not agree with what is going on in China. Like destroying the four olds. And also not letting Jiang audition. It makes me think that her family especially her dad is very anti- China right now. And that further on in the book we are going to see if her dad does agree or not with the revolution. But I think your theory kind of make sense. It makes sense because if she auditioned she would have not passed the cultural investigation and her family just wants to protect her. But if she is not fully Chinese it is bad because Jiang very much agrees with all the new changes that are going on in China. Like her siblings, but her parents do not seem so happy about it. If your theory is right then they would have to leave China or be killed, because it is very dangerous. But like I said Jiang might take the news hard. But overall I think your drawing represented her familys unhappy faces with the news.

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  3. Mary, Your explanation made me understand better this concept of the book. I think your ideas are very simple, but good. That's what made me understand things better. Adding, I really like your picture and I think it really shows the family's reaction to Ji- Li's news. I can clearly see, her sister and brother were as happy as her and her parents were scared. However, I think that you should have colored your drawing or at least explain why you didn't color it. That way, there would be a unique part of your post.
    Thanks,
    Melissa M.

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  4. Mary,

    According to what I'm seeing, you post was the one that helped me understand the book the most. Firstly, this scene was the most important one in our reading section this week because it was more of the mini climax. In another words, this little part made everything more interesting because the audience would wonder if she would audition anyways. Also, the way this is illustrated clearly tells me something about the scene. In fact, I noticed two things. As the first one, your image was a bit too literal to me. I'm not sure, but this might have meant something to you and that is why you drew it that way. For example, the way I chose to draw this scene is drawing the three kids that were auditioning as normal people and Ji-Li as a dog. I was basing my basic knowledge and turned it into something more representative. Secondly, your drawing appeared to be in black and white. If this was meant to be black and white, I would guess that you thought that the way this family lived was poor and unhappy. As an illustration, Ji-Li had to deny her opportunity because she had certain political background. Overall, the image made me think differently in perspective and true meaning.

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