Marina Dissinger- Risk- Taking Researcher

“Red Scarf Girl”, happens during the Cultural Revolution, where China's Communist leader Mao called on the nation’s youth to purge the “impure elements” (four olds). Ji- Li is the main character. Her name means lucky and beautiful. She is very smart and used to be the "da-dui-zhang” (the head of the student council). Despite her academic achievements, she is held back by her poor class status, and needs to face this barrier to move on.

source

Ji-Li was born in Shanghai, China in 1954. For over twenty years Ji-Li would not discuss her experiences from childhood which included surviving the cultural revolution in China, until her thoughts were captured in her autobiography. After the publication in 1997, Ji-Li has been invited to share her experiences in many different places including schools, and a huge number of different conferences. 

Word Whisperer

Antonio Fernandes

Chapter 3-5

 Humanities 8                                Word Whisperer

Rhetorical question:” Did the teachers really intend to ruin our health and corrupt our minds?" A rhetorical question is a question asked without the intention of others to answer it.  This rhetorical question happened when the girl was thinking what to write in her da-zi-bao about the teachers, so she went to see other students da-zi-bao and then she thought if the teacher were ruining their minds because she never saw one teacher ruining her health. According to (Lierary Devices) Rhetorical questions are normally used to empathies a point and is also a very good persuasive device. I chose the picture below to  demonstrate what the da-zi-bao looked like.

Simile-“She was as lonely as I was.” A simile is when you compare something using like or as. In this time she is comparing herself to a white flower that was always alone to herself. She was feeling really lonely. A Simile is normally used to  vivid and empathetic the readers understanding of the passage.  I chose this image to demonstrate the white flower that she was comparing herself to.

Personification- My heart fell.” A personification is when you give an object a human quality. For example, the heart didn`t fall, what she meant was that she felt bad and sad about her self. This personification appeared when the girl was being nominated and then someone shouted that the students nominated had to say their background. Personification is used to make a story more interesting and also it is used to help readers connect. I chose this image below to show you what personification does.

http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/rhetquesterm.htm

http://literarydevices.net/rhetorical-question/

http://steveolivo.edublogs.org/files/2011/09/IMG_3613-1tc0dk8.jpg

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/figures-simile.htm

http://www.wallgogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/backgrounds-for-loneliness-flower-wallpapers-hd-lonely-wallpaper-hd.jpg

http://www.ask.com/education/personification-used-47a81605b8c0b299

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-personification.html

http://www.essaywow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/personification-re-do.jpg

Illustrious Artist - Daphne M

Daphne M- Illustrious Artist

Red Scarf Girl - Chapter 3,4 & 5

Ji-li Jiang

Rotation #2

The drawing I made was inspired by the topic I would like to write about, da-zi-bao.
According to the newspaper, the schools classes were suspended, and students were required to make posters about the teachers and their learning. The posters are about means of protest, propaganda, and popular communication. They have been used in China since imperial times. Da-zi-bao are propaganda posters. In the book, the posters are supposed to say how their teachers stand against the system and are considered "Black", the opposite of Red which is Communism. Ji-li, Zhang- Jie , and An-Yi couldn't think of anything, so they went outside to see what others had written. They are amazed on what other have said, and they canot portray their teachers like the others did. 
(Notice the little lines above Ji-Li's head in the drawing, they represent her reaction.) They instead of writing it themselves, copy down already written ones. 

Risk Taking Reasaercher - MArtina Gil

Red Scarf Girl

Risk-Taking Researcher

_____________________________

        Red Scarf Girl was written by, Ji-Li Jiang. THe events happen whe Ji-Li is twelve years old. It is a memoir about what she went through during the Cultural Revolution during 1966. During this time, communist leader Mao Zedong, wanted to reassurt his authority over the Chinese  Government. 

One of Chairman Maos movements was to get rid of the four olds. These four olds were old ideas, old culture, old habits and old customs. Once the four olds were stripped of the people, he would establish new ones. Some questions come to mind when learning about this movement. Why did he not want tradition? Tradition unites people, doesnt he want the people united?

        

        

Connection Captain; Julianna Mello

The one thing that stuck in my mind while reading the next three chapters was for sure the da-zi-bao. A da-zi-bao translates to character poster. The poster expresses things such as political rights and laws for the people of china. To me this reminds me of something so simple yet our lives wouldn't have been the same without it. I am positive that everybody remembers the ABC posters in there classes when we were younger. As we got older it's not like we looked at it for help but the class just felt empty without it.  Students would know they were in school if they saw the ABC poster, people began to use ABC as a symbol for school. The da-zi-bao was just as big of their childhoods as the ABC's were for us.  In my opinion, this connection was simple yet affective.

Da-Zi-Bao

Isabel Kuiper - Illustrious Artist

Red Scarf Girl - Chapter 3,4 & 5

Ji-li Jiang

Rotation #2

                     This chapter was mainly about da-zi-bao. A da-zi-bao is a poster with large characters, expressing a political opinion. In the book the students were suppose to criticize the educational system. They made many posters with red and black ink. That's one of the reasons the main part of my drawing is in black and red. In the drawing you also see that I used lighter colors, such as yellow and light blue; these represent minor details of the drawing. 

I put related things of the quote on boarder of my "poster" to make the main points stick out more. How did you react to the scene with this quote?

                     There were many examples of da-zi-bao in the book. But, the particular quote; that was on page 50, stuck out to me. In the beginning of the chapter Ji-Li-Jiang had trouble thinking of something to criticize the teachers. She thought there weren't villains, but usually acted like a mother to her. I would have to agree with Ji-li-jiang; if someone made me write a poster criticizing any of my teachers I don't know what I would put. 

                      Later on, she finds out someone made one about her. I felt really sad, my eyes were watering when Ji-li-jiang started crying. Her description of this moment in her life was so touching. I understood that she felt sick, sad, and betrayed by her peers. I would have to.  After always helping others out, trying her best, and this is how you are repaid back. I guess I wouldn't even want to go back to "that school". I felt like this chapter was one of the strongest, because this is when her family history reveals its self, she can't go to her dream school and she doesn't feel like she belongs within her peers.  This point in the book is when we see changes starting in her life. 

How would you react if someone made a da-zi-bao about you?

Would you be able to write a da-zi-bao criticizing the education system?

Connection Captain Giulia Di Bella

Giulia Di Bella

Connection Captain

Week 2                                             

2/15/15

 (*since I have been reading this book in pdf format, and the pdf does not include page numbers, the page numbers for citations have not been included in this post.)

"Mom and Dad had spent a long time talking in the bathroom last night, the only place in our home where they could have a private conversation, and I was sure this walk had something to do with what happened to me yesterday." * chapter: The Red Successors

This quote from the book reminds me of another book that we are currently exploring which is called: The Diary of Anne Frank. In that book, we know that the only place in which they could have privacy was in the W.C.'s. A place in which they could spend the whole day with their own "privacy" and "freedom". This reminds me of the scene that the narrator, or the main character of the book, The Red Scarf Girl, said. In the quote above she stated that the only place in which their parents would have privacy, was in the bathroom. This was how I related the scene from this book and the scenes from The Diary of Anne Frank, in which both characters would have their privite conversations and thoughts in the bathroom. 

Something else that I connected from this book was this quote from one of the Red Successors:

"You should reflect on your class origin and throughly remold your ideology." 

The Red Successors advised Ji-Li-Jiang.* chapter: The Red Successors

I thought that since we are learning about ideology right now in Humanities with Ms. Hancock, I would be able to connect that with what one of the antagonists from this book said. They have been saying that Ji-li-Jiang (protagonist) had to "remold her ideology" to have a clear and right aspect of what was going on really in her life. Since they supposedly said that her ideas had to be remolded, or remade, I question myself: "How come?" Isn't ideology all about ideas? And aren't ideas naturally... different? Anyways, that's just my understanding of what ideology is really all about. So, I could really connect what we are learning about this quarter in Humanities, with what the Red Successors were saying to Ji-Li. 

http://us.123rf.com/450wm/ratoca/ratoca1102/ratoca110200035/8819001-two-different-ideologies-dialogue-and-reaching-agreement.jpg

http://previews.123rf.com/images/ratoca/ratoca1106/ratoca110600016/9725102-drawing-abstract-thinking-head.jpg

Illustrious Artist - Lexi Farnes

Red Scarf Girl 
Ji-Li Jiang
Chapters 3, 4, 5
Week 2
Illustrious Artist

I decided to create what I thought a da-zi-bao poster would look like, after reading this weeks section.      A da-zi-bao poster, is a "big character poster", and in the book the students criticised the educational system.  The day they did this, all school classes were suspended.  The students were then directed instead to participate in making da-zi-bao posters.  There were rolls of white paper, lots of brushes, and some bottles of red and black ink so the students could make the posters.  The da-zi-bao posters were everywhere.  And all the students would gather around a poster and eagerly shout suggestions.  When Ji-Li spread out a piece of paper in front of her, she didn't know what to write.  She said, "But now that I actually had to criticise the teachers who taught us every day, I could not find anything really bad to say about any of them" (Page 39).  I think this scene in the book play is really important.

To me, it shows me what part of the Cultural Revolution was all about.  

Marina Dissinger- Line Illuminator

1.  "I bent down and pretended to tie my shoelaces. But I could not block out her voice, dry, hoarse, and trembling" - Pg. 76

Source

This quote is very interesting because it has 
imagery in it. The reader can clearly see the scene in ones head, as the words "dry", "hoarse" and " trembling" make the writing more effective and touching. Additionally, this quote is important because the words represent what the people who were being judged felt like. Aunt Xi-wen for example, was humiliated by kids for her looks and actions, and this is how she felt, sad, without hope. Another example is Ji-li. On pg. 78, she felt sad when she found out the other students wrote a da-zi-bao about her.

2.   "One after another they continued to criticize me. I stared at their moving lips, understanding nothing." - Pg. 10

Source

This passage basically describes Ji-li's whole experience until now. People judged her by her family ties and habits. They would say that her having a maid was a sign of the four olds and exploitation. Additionally, all of the people she knew would bully her around the fact that her grandfather was a Landlord. They would say mean things behind her back, and would exclude her from class work, telling her mean things about her family. One example is on page 91, where she humiliated in front of the whole class by a student called Du Hai.

Sophia Takahashi - Illustrious Artist

Sophia Takahashi - Illustrious Artist

Sophia Takahashi - Illustrious Artist

Red Scarf Girl - Chapter 3,4 & 5

Ji-li Jiang

Rotation #2

Drawn by Sophia Takahashi

I decided to draw a graph showing many examples of what is happening in the book; Red Scarf Girl. The first example shown in this is how Ji-Li was put in Shi-Yi Junior High, but was transferred to Xin-Zha Junior High due to the fact that all people from the same district had to go to the same school. This is also represented by the Green X and the Red ✓. Shi-Yi Junior High has a Green X because Ji-Li and An-Yi wanted to go to Shi-Yi (Green), but weren't allowed to by the government (X). This is also represented by the Red ✓. Red signifying that An-Yi and Ji-Li didn't want to go to Xin-Zha (Red) but as a matter of fact, had to (✓). 

Furthermore, the Red Arrows → indicate the fact that Xin-Er Primary School could actually take the two prized students to any of the other schools. Due to the Cultural Revolution, teachers did not have a say in which school students could go to shown in Red Scarf Girl, "Teacher Gu nodded, '"We got a new directive from the city. All students will be assigned to schools by their residential districts. The teachers assignments have been invalidated (77 Jiang)."' 

Last but no least, the Green Arrows → represent the paths they actually went through. Both An-Yi and Ji-Li were in Xin-Er Primary School, and then were transferred to Xin-Zha Junior High.

Line Illuminator -Jessica

"I did not want her to see me. I bent down and pretended to tie my shoelaces." (pg.47)

Ji-Li and her classmates went to go confront her aunt and made her put a sign on her door. It seems like Ji-Li is ashamed of what she is doing, especially because it is her family. In addition to that, I think she is starting to question whether or not everything Chairman Mao says is right. At first, she agreed with everything, with enthusiasm. Now, she is being a little more hesitant. Not only with confronting her aunt, but also when she had to write signs about her teachers. I think she will be one of the first in her class to realize that not everything Chairman Mao is saying is right. Ji-Li's family will be the first to realize it. It already seems like her dad and grandma don't agree with everything. If you were in her place, would you go along with what everyone else is doing, or would you be different than everyone else?

 Source

This picture shows that the zebra is hiding in it's own stripes. Just like Ji-Li was when she was at her aunts.  

"I had always been a school leader, a role model. How could I have suddenly become so bad that I needed to be remixed thoroughly?" (pg.67)

The other kids in her school thinks Ji-Li needs to be "remolded" just because her grandfather was a landlord. Ji-Li doesn't agree with them, she tries to tell them that whatever her grandfather did has nothing to do with her. Chairman Mao is making friends turn against each other. Like the quote above says, people use to look up to her, and not they are criticizing her. Just because someone with political power says something is right, doesn't mean it is. I don't think any of the students at Ji-Li's school understands that. They are all just agreeing to everything he says and aren't really thinking about what it means. I think Ji-Li is starting to realize even more that something isn't right. 

 Source

This picture shows two people arguing. Just like Ji-Li and her classmate were when they were telling her to "remodel" herself. 

The Red Scarf Girl: Risk Taker Researcher [Mathaus Silva]

The Red Scarf Girl: Risk Taker Researcher [Mathaus Silva]

Red Scarf Girl is a novel, specifically, a memoir, written by Ji-li Jiang, also the main character's name on the book. A memoir is a record of events written by a person based on their knowledge and experiences. A lot like a diary. And that's what Red Scarf Girl is, a diary.  This book started in 1966 in China, when the author, Ji-li Jiang had only 12 years of age. As you can probably tell, this is a true story, that happened to her. It's about her experiences during the Chinese Revolution.

China's Military Soldiers

Something I noticed throughout the book was "the four olds". Which apparently stands for old culture, old ideas, old customs, and old habits. Apparently when Chinese policemen sees anything which fit into the category of "the four olds", they would destroy it. Whether it's museums, monuments, houses, signs. I didn't matter. Anything that pretty much showed capitalism was destroyed.

The Four Olds in Chinese

Risktaking Researcher - Daphne M

The novel Red Scarf Girl was written by Ji-li Jang about what she experienced in 1966, during the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was a time which Mao (In China) prohibited teenagers to attend school by shutting it down. The purpose was to make this young population revolutionary and fight for the communism against "poisonous ideas "from the occidental countries, which Mao believed the elderly from his own party was leading china too. Thus, he needed the revolutionaries to fight against. There is also a book "foreword" written by David Henry Wang that is also commonly read.

 Ji-Li Jiang was born in Shanghai, China in 1954. She lived in a large apartment with her dad ,( Henry O ) ,her mom ( Ying- Chen ) ,her brother ( Ji-yong), her sister (Ji-yun), and her grandmother. Ji Jang graduated Shanhai Teachers Collage and Shanghai University right before she moved to Hawaii in 1984. The book Red Scarf Girl is about her teenage years lived while the Cultural Revolution was happening. The book also talks about her family being humiliated for being conciderded "black" because of her late grandfather being a landlord. That was the opposite of "red", the color of communism. Res Scarf Girl was the most famous book published by Ji-Li Jang, she also wrote a book called The Magical Monkey King.

Line Illuminator: Julianna Mello

Line #1: That year the Cultural Revolution Started.

This was the ending line of chapter one. In the prologue you can tell that Ji-li is a very optimistic girl. That is until I read this last line. She also informed the audience that at this time she was just 12 years old, which makes sense to me because usually the younger you are the happier. The line speaks out that she is positive although there’s going to be many difficulties in the way of her getting where she wants to be. The Cultural Revolution began in 1966 it was launched by China’s Communist leader Mao Zedong, organized to take charge over the Chinese government. The revolution then ended in 1976.  This gives me many clues on what the book is going to be about, it also intrigues me into wondering who a optimistic girl keeps positive in such a dark time.

Line #2:  Chairman Mao our beloved leader, smiled down at us from his place above the blackboard.

 I found this line very interesting as it tells me that she and the other children call their everyday teacher their beloved leader. I understand that in school the teacher is the classes leader but the way she states it is very different to what I may think. This may mean that in this time teachers had much more power over their students. As in their time school had very harsh punishments. Education has always been very important in some ways your life may depend on it. In many ways education is what helps human beings to move on with their lives. I believe in this. Although I also feel the teachers shouldn’t be called leaders in this context. 

Red Scarf Girl Rotation #1

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

Gaetano Cremoux

Risk Taking Researcher

Rotation 1

Chapters 1- 2

Source

This book, written by Ji-Liang Jiang is a memoir about her experience in Chinas Cultural Revolution. It is basically focused on Ji-Liang and her life story during her time in China. She is considered a more traditional family, and is harassed for being so. Eventually, things get so bad that the government try to arrest her and her family. 

Ji-Liang was born in Shanghai, China, in 1954. She was born into a wealthy family who lived in a large apartment. She was a top student until 1966, when the Cultural Revolution started. This was because her family was accused of being anti-communist and the older members of her family were forced to do hard labor. When the cultural revolution ended in 1988, she, along with the rest of her family, moved to Hawaii. After graduating from the University of Hawaii, she worked as a analyst for a hotel chain. She later co-founded East West Exchange. She went on to publish her incredible life story. 

Week 1

Risk Taking research- role six

Antonio F

Red Scarf Girl

This week I made a research about the book Red Scarf Girl, made by Ji-Li Jiang.  This book starts in 1966, where Ji-li Jiang was 12 years old. The author of this book wrote a real story about what happened and how she struggled in the Cultural Revolution. This book got an award-winning memoir. According to the site (BookRages) this book talks about the period of Cultural Revolution, and one of the biggest themes of this book is fear. This time is a time in which fear, confusion, and violence in china start to emerge the society and tradition start to break down in China. This book is normally written in first person. I chose the picture beneath to represent the fear the people had during the Cultural revolution.

 As I read the book I saw that it talked about the four olds, so I thought what are the four olds? I decided to research about it.

  The four olds refer to old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.

When the revolution started, the four olds was a major concept. The majority of the people, that saw something to do with the four olds, they would use violence to show people it was wrong. For example, in the book when a girl saw a kid using pants bigger than what would be classified not four olds, they just got scissors and cut his pants, so that he would never use “ four old pants” again.  The red guards would be normally people with 12-30 years that you destroy anything that showed capitalism or the concept of the “4 olds.” That would be stores, houses, signs and even monuments. I chose the picture beneath to represent the 4 olds and how violent the people were.

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-red-scarf-girl2/#gsc.tab=0

http://www.jilijiang.com/red-scarf-girl/

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-red-scarf-girl2/style.html#gsc.tab=0

http://redscarfgirllilianyang.weebly.com/red-scarf-girl---four-olds.html

http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/holland.html

http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/GWeekly/2014/4/22/1398183161625/Chairman-Mao-Zedong-poste-006.jpg

http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/china-cultural-revolution1.jpg

http://www.athomewithmrsm.com/2010/12/children-phobias.html

Illustrious Artist Martina Gil

Illustrious Artist

Red Scarf Girl 

________________

 I walked slowly down the hall, surrounded by my shouting and jostling classmates, seeing only the beautiful soldier, feeling only the electric tingle of her soft touch on my head.

________________

In this picture, I drew the soldier with a black shadow, that looks like it's growing. I did this to isolate to soldier and show that if Jiang would follow this path, she wouldn't know what would be in store for her. The shapes around her head show the electric tingle that she feels. I drew everything in black in white in the picture because Jiang doesn't have anything figured out in her life. She doesn't know what it is. Do you think she has everything figured out? Or does the tryout give her one of her first tastes reality