Question 3

3. What do you think is the theme of the play, Anne Frank?

From what I know, I think that the theme of the play of Anne Frank is that no matter what conditions you are in, you must always keep your values and love your family unconditionally. A connection I can make from this is that this theme for now is very similar to the theme in Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang.

Question 2

2. What is prejudice? Where in the world have you seen prejudice? What are the effects of prejudice?

Prejudice is judging someone or something before you actually really know that person or thing, and discriminating that person/thing because of judging beforehand. I think that the word "prejudice" is made up of the prefix "pre" and "judice" kind of sounds like "judge" and it is similar. "Pre" means before, so it means before-judging. I have seen prejudice in my own life, in other people's lives, occasions, events, and so on. I think that prejudice is seen in everyday life. I have been prejudice sometimes, or more truthfully, a lot. I am the sort of person that judges a person by his or her looks before I actually get to know that person in their real being. For example, when I first came to this school, I looked at each person in my class and thought to myself, "He looks really smart." or "She dresses really well" or "He's so ugly" or "She's so pretty." As I think these comments to myself, I start to act like I already know that person, when all the while that person could be someone TOTALLY different inside. Because of judging people before I get to know that person, I miss special and precious relationships that I could actually keep, and instead throw them away. This could lead to a huge issue, because some people that I meet, I hang out with that person because he/she is popular or have similar characteristics as me. Sometimes, these people can actually turn out to be really awesome friends, but a lot of the time it turns out that that person is actually awful inside. This is a life lesson to learn : Being prejudice can enable you to miss out on perfect opportunities to meet people and get to know them. I've seen prejudice in other people's lives. Sometimes I overhear gossip, or am part of one, and I hear things that are prejudice about usually a person. Sometimes it feels "good" to talk about someone behind their backs, but really inside, I'm the one hurting. There are so many effects to prejudice. Like I said before, being prejudice can make you miss out on a lot, and secondly, it can hurt other people, and sometimes it can even hurt you, even if you are the one being prejudice. I've seen prejudice in international schools, where there are differnet nationalities and different people. Prejudice usually leads to harmful words, and undeserving treatment.

Question 1

1. What do you know already about the Holocaust?

I know that during the Holocaust, many people died during World War 2. I also know that the Holocaust had something to do with the German Nazis. I don't know the specific facts, but I do know that Jewish people were involved in the Holocaust. Keywords that I know that are from the Holocaust are: persecution, concentration camps, Jehovah's witnesses, Soviets. Anne Frank's diary was about the Holocaust, and how Anne Frank, her family and other Jewish people had to go into hiding.

Plot - Red Scarf Girl

The exposition is described with the setting, situation/climate, and characters. The setting in this book is Shanghai, China. The scenes mostly take place at her house, her neighborhood, and her school. There is one change in setting throughout the whole story. This is when Ji-Li has to go to the rice harvest in the countryside. The situation/climate in this book is the Cultural Revolution. The whole story is about the Cultural Revolution and how the main character struggled through this. The main character and narrator in this story is Ji-Li Jiang, and most of it is about her family members: her grandmother, parents, siblings. Some of her 'friends' are included as an important feature in this book. Three main events that happen during the story is when 1) Ji-Li enters Xin-Zha Junior High School. 2) The Red Guards invade Ji-Li's house in passing for the first time and take their belongings that may be involved in the fourolds. 3) Identification of Ji-Li's family's problem of a different political background. The protagonist (Ji-Li Jiang) v.s. the antagonist (brainwashing of the Cultural Revolution) leads to the conflict. The climax has two parts: external conflict and internal conflict. The climax of the external conflict is when the Red Guards invade Ji-Li's house the second time in search of the letter. The climax of the internal conflict is when Ji-Li goes to the police department to change her name and to break her identity from her family background, but actually ends up not making that decision and refusing. The start of the falling action is when Ji-Li's family ends up looked down on, and Ji-Li ends up worrying about each member of her family, and blaming herself that she hadn't hid the letter well enough. Concludingly, her mom is classified as a landlord's wife and is humiliated even more so. The resolution is when the Cultural Revolution ends, Chairman Mao loses power, and Ji-Li realizes that her family was the most vital and significant detail during the time of the Cultural Revolution and her life. Though the ending of the book isn't a "happily ever after," the real "happily ever after" ending of the story takes place after the Cultural Revolution ends in Ji-Li Jiang's life.

Theme - Red Scarf Girl

In the story of the "Red Scarf Girl," the title indicates that Ji-Li was a girl who followed Chairman Mao because she was brainwashed. The red scarf signifies the communist party in China and how it got hold of her life. The red scarf is tied to Ji-Li and she is to it. This shows suffocation because of her family background. She is stifled in her own thoughts. Ji-Li Jiang later realizes that her family was really important: more than anything else. She was the kind of girl who thought her life was perfect, and was prideful. However, she later realizes that becoming a Red Guard and being a follower of Chairman Mao was meaningless. An important statement made in the story is: "Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." pg. 1. This quote is actually written and acknowledged by Ji-Li, but later in the last chapter and the epilogue, it reveals to the audience that Ji-Li was actually writing the whole story against this quote. In this book, the theme is directly stated in page 263. The theme is very long, so this is the theme in our own words that my literary circle came up with: Ji-Li Jiang's "Red Scarf Girl" about the Cultural Revolution, the theme reveals that in whatever circumstances, we should always have the courage to show compassion to our values. Also, another theme related to the previous one is this: We should always know and keep to our values, no matter the situation and whatever the cost may be. I think that this book reveals a precious theme in which everyone should know about.

Setting - Red Scarf Girl

In the setting of "Red Scarf Girl," the main character is Jiang Ji-Li. She is around 11~13 years old when the Cultural Revolution takes place in 1966. She lives in China, Shanghai, and she is part of a pretty well-off family, so they live in a relatively pleasant neighborhood. She attends a public school close to her home : Xin Er Primary. This setting is the main setting in this book. The only time that the setting changes place is when Ji Li has to go to the countryside to work for Chairman Mao. This is the time of her life which she has to go through so much physical suffering. This book is based on the setting of the Cultural Revolution. Without a setting for this book, I wouldn't be reading it.

Characterization - Red Scarf Girl

"Red Scarf Girl" tells the story of a girl called Jiang Ji-Li and basically, she lives a perfect life in Shanghai. . In the beginning, she is a girl who is very bright, smart, respected by her classmates, has a loving and caring family, and her family is a pretty wealthy family, too. She practically lives an almost perfect life. She has everything she wants. Her physical characteristics in this story seems like she is an attractive girl - her picture on the cover looks like it. Her character seems very personal, independent, and generous. Although she is born from a wealthy family, she doesn't seem so spoilt. I think that this is because of her parents' discipline. Her personality seems very cheerful and bright. However, there are some parts of the story in which she brags and she is very selfconcious about herself. She is the top student in her class, she has all the love and respect from her classmates. She can get almost anything she wants. She even gets picked to join the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. She is able to excel and is always expected to succeed. Her future seems ideal. And she never doubted what she was told: "Heaven and earth are great, but greater is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." Chairman Mao is her hero. She vowed to herself she would do anything for him. At least, she kept that vow until the Cultural Revolution began in 1966.