Red Scarf Girl (Character Development)

Ji- li was once this girl, who understood very little of her family. She once believed that nothing was more important than being a child of Mao. She totally supported the cultural revolution and nothing was going to stop her from being a part of it. Yet, in the story, what happens her to makes her doubtful of what is right in the world. From ji-li i guess i could say that i had learned alot from her. Over the past few days while i was reading, i was really..amazed by the courage she had, and i wish i had at least half of that. When i look back on my post about courage, it was nothing like the one she faced. Ji-li wasnt very couragous from the beginning, but as time wore on, she was. She developed into an adult over the past year. She had been forced to see reality as it was. She could have ignored everything, but she had decided to face everything that had been layed out infront of her. I know that what she had gone through couldnt have been easy. Besides the problem in her family, because of her family, she had to be looked down upon. it would have been easy to walk away, but hse didnt. Everybody knows that its hard to take humiliation, even when you know you dont deserve it. But, she was able to stand up tall and show everyone that she was strong and brave. Anyway, overall, i though that this was a good book, and you really can learn what is more important, the outside world, or the people who have stuck with you in no matter what situation.

red scarf girl (plot)

From my last post, i talked about just the basic and how the family had a secret. WELLLLL the secert was that the family had a political problem that made it so that it was hard to get realyl involved witht he cultural revolution. It was that the Jiangs were landlords. Chariman mao didnt allow that, so you were considered into the black category if you were any fourolds. In my opinion, its not fair. It wasnt your plan for you to be born into a certain family, and just because you were, doesn't mean you should be treated differently. Ji li goes through several events that make it hard for her to get involved in the cultural revolution because of her family background. I think that during this time period, Ji li had the most trouble because she was the one to make a new choice. And there were other childeren, but Ji li really understood what was going on. This showed that she was courageous. It was amazing how she really balanced both of them out, and how she was able to go through everything. It must have been tough for her, but she went through it. When her family was having a hard time, she was there. and even so for the cultural revolution. She joined the group to support it. I think that Ji li is the perfect example of how you can be courageous even in the hardest times. SO, a question for YOU! Would you choose your family or your country? :)

red scarf girl setting

SO, in this book, red scarf girl, it is about a girl, Ji-li, during the cultural revolution. Up to this point, her life is like a fairy tale. Shes top at everything, and anyone would be jealous of her. Shes smart, her family is in a good position, she was happy, and as well as beautiful. This book takes place in China. Up to now, chairman Mao, is taking action in the cultural revolution. He is trying to get rid of the old ways, and hange them into new ways. Even though this book just started, Ji- li is having disputes amongst her classmates becuase who is doing what old way and such. Ji-li is picked to join the Central Liberation Amry Arts Academy, but cannot go because of some politial reason. hmmm Im curious to find out!! hehe :)

Secrets

Once, i had this best friend in 2nd grade. Somebody had told me not to play with her because she always nagged and was really childish. Even though she was my best friend, i was young, and usually, when youre young, you believe everything anyone tells you. So hearing this, i had decided to distance myself from my best friend. This was the secret i did not tell her. I had avoided her all day, and didnt tell her why. First of all, I didnt tell her because i didnt want her to find out i wasnt playing with her, and second, because i didnt want to be the bad person who just left their best friend for something somebody else had said. I guess that could reveal a thing about my personality. I dont tell people things, becasue either i get hurt or somebody else does, and i dont like the feeling of that. Then, by the end of recess, all the girls in the class knew that i couldnt, or wouldnt play with my best friend. (there were only like 5 girls in the class) So by this time, my best friend knew somthing was wrong, and sensed that i had been avioding her. My secret had been revealed in class right after recess when my best friend asked me why eveybody was treating her differently and why i was being so mean to her. Then, had no choice but to tell her, so i told her that somebody had said that she nagged and was really childish. It was pretty shocking at first for her, but it as well made me feel bad becasue i had said it infront of the whole class as well as the teacher. Of couse, by the next day we were best firends again, and everything was fine, it still left a memory in the back of my head; although the secret had only lasted about an hour, but it was the worst hour of my life. I had avioded my best friend because of what somebody else told me. That was what i learned about my personality that day, i believed anything what people said, and as well as listened to other people. I dont listen to myself, but care about what other people think, and take it into thought. Even though i know it is not right, becasue other people tell me so, i do it. Through this experience, i had learned that, dont keep secrets from your friends because you never know when or how you can hurt them. And make decisions on your own, dont let anyone make them for you.

Courage

When I was younger, I used to take speech lessons and every once in a while, there used to be a speech contest. It was my first time speaking infront of a larger group of people because usually in my class, I only spoke in front of a small amount of people. But this was different. I had to speak infront of parents, other students, and the judges. The most terrifying part of this experience was that we were getting judged. Then, after weeks of preparing, the day had finally come to present my speech. Of course, all I had to do was recite the memorized paper, but at this point Korean was my 2nd language, and it hadn't been long, since I had first moved. It was like memorizing a speech in Italian and getting judged for it. It was sort of frustrating in the beginning. I was embarrassed most of all, of how people would think or say if i messed up. But, since i had already signed up and agreed to do it, I took the chance. It wasn't easy going up on stage with an audience of people starring at you. It was quite nervewrecking. But once i got on the stage, it was really, a good feeling. I had presented my speech "almost" fluently with only a few mistakes here and there. After I was finisehd i was proud of myself. Even though it was something tough to go through because i was young, and as well was speaking a foreign language, i went through it. And now as i look back, im glad i did because when i did take that chance, i felt alot braver. I had confidence in myself. This contest was a huge benefit for me because this taught me to say what i wanted and how to say it, professionally. This competition lead onto more chances for me, and later in 5th grade, i had the opporotunity to recite a speech in english. I guess from this experience, you could tell about my personality that I'm a person that i say i dont want to do it, but inside, i know iwant to. And im also afraid of what people really think of me. This experience for me, was the definition of courage because i did something that was really brave to me, and i had accomplished it.