Learning Courage from a Nonfiction Text

SUGGESTED TIME:

• 1 class period to introduce the book; 1 class period to discuss the book
• Students can be assigned to read the book either in-class as a series of silent reading sessions or for homework
• The suggested reading assignments for the book, Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang, are:
  
  • Assignment 1: Note to the Reader, Note on Pronunciation, Foreword, Prologue, The Liberation Army Dancer
  • Assignment 2: Destroy the Four Olds!, Writing Da-zi-bao
  • Assignment 3: The Red Successors, Graduation
  • Assignment 4: The Sound of Drums and Gongs, The Propaganda Wall
  • Assignment 5: A Search in Passing, Fate
  • Assignment 6: Junior High School at Last, Locked Up
  • Assignment 7: An Educable Child, Half-City Jiangs
  • Assignment 8: The Class Education Exhibition, The Rice Harvest
  • Assignment 9: The Incriminating Letter, Sweeping, Epilogue 
• Have students answer the worksheet questions as they read the book.
• Allow at least 50 min of class time to have a class discussion of the worksheet questions.

‍

RELATED SUBJECT:

English Language Arts

‍

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Read a nonfiction text and demonstrate understanding of the central ideas 
• Understand the difference between the genres memoir and autobiography
• Determine the author’s purposes in the text 
• Understand how the author portrays examples of courage 
• Write answers to questions about the book, demonstrating an understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar   
• Engage effectively in collaborative discussions about the book

‍

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

• Nonfiction text: Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang. 
• Video: This photo triggered China's Cultural Revolution by Vox (~6 min)
• Prohuman Grade 7 Unit 5 Worksheet 2: Learning Courage from a Nonfiction Text

‍

‍

ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET

‍

‍

‍

‍

LESSON PROCEDURE

Step 1: 

• Explain that we will be reading a memoir, a first-person text that records a writer’s reaction to important events in their life. 
• Explain that memoirs are different from autobiographies in several ways: 
  
  • Autobiographies usually encompass the author’s entire life, while memoirs cover specific moments from the author’s life.
  • Autobiographies usually follow a more straightforward path that usually starts with the writer’s childhood and continues through to the different stages of life. Memoirs don’t always follow a linear path and can shift back and forth in time. 
  • Autobiographies are usually written later in life, when the author looks back and portrays experiences. A memoir can be written at any point in life.

‍

Step 2: 

• Explain that the memoir we will be reading, Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang, is about the author’s experiences of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which took place from 1966-76. 
• To understand the historical context of this event, we will watch a video: This photo triggered China's Cultural Revolution by Vox (~6 min)

‍

Step 3: 

• Have students read the book, Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang, either as a series of in-class silent reading assignments or for homework.
• Have students answer the worksheet questions while reading the book.

‍

Step 4: 

• Reserve an entire class period to facilitate a whole-class discussion of the worksheet questions.

‍

‍

‍

‍

GRADE 7 UNIT 5 WORKSHEET 2: LEARNING COURAGE FROM A NONFICTION TEXT

‍

‍

‍

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WHILE READING THE BOOK Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang: 

1. In the chapter “The Liberation Army Dancer,” how does the author describe her family’s living conditions compared to many of her classmates?
2. In the chapter, “Destroy the Four Olds!” what were the four olds and why were those who participated in the Cultural Revolution trying to destroy the four olds?
3.  In the chapter, “Destroy the Four Olds!” why does the author feel that the battle with the four olds was even harder than a physical battle?
4. What was the purpose of the da-zi-baos? How were Ji-Li and her friend An Yi humiliated by da-zi-baos?
5. What is Ji-Li’s challenge in joining the Red Successors?
6. What does Ji-Li’s family do to her grandmother’s dowry—the trunks and ancestral clothing? Why do they burn these items from their family history and their family photographs?
7. Who are three people who were publicly humiliated? What was the purpose of public humiliation in the Cultural Revolution?
8. What is Ji-Li’s father accused of? How do her parents show courage in the face of this accusation?
9. What does Teacher Zhange mean when he tells Ji-Li that she is an “educable child”? 
10. How is Ji-Li’s family humiliated by the article published in The Worker’s Revolt?
11. What are the two choices the Communist leaders present Ji-Li with?
12. How does Ji-Li show courage?
13. What does the author conclude about what happened during the Chinese Cultural Revolution? 
14. What observations did the author make about America in the 1980s? Do you think America is still as free as it was in the 1980s? Why or why not?
15. In an interview, the author of this book said that one of her main reasons for writing the book is so “you have the courage to do your own thinking, use your own heart and make right decisions. When we put someone in power we have the responsibility of making sure they don’t abuse that power.” If you saw a leader coming into power that you saw was causing them to mistreat others, how could you show courage to help others?

‍

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY

‍

‍