ACTIVITY 3
QUESTION 1
Theme – Cultural Customs One of the themes that was explored in the book Mao's Last Dancer was the theme of their cultural customs. Because of their culture, women had to leave their family forever when getting married and forget the past (At half way point one of the carriers will shout ‘flip your mirror!’ and she should forget the past and look forward to the future). Another theme is that the family is usually very sad when the daughter is getting married and happy at the same time because their daughter now has enough food and will be taken care of. One example is ‘She lowers the vail over her face and leaves, feeling nothing but pain.’
There were special cures for different medical problems. Such as eating snakeskin …show more content…
He made friends to help himself overcome the homesickness and sadness. One of the teachers, Teacher Xiao, became one of Li’s best friends. He helped Li like dancing and helped him overcome problems. While his friend Lujun (AKA Bandit) became Li’s blood brother, Bandit and Li became good friends and encouraged and pushed each other over their limits.
Theme – Follow the rules Li had to follow rules at the academy and most of the rules limit the amount of freedom Li gets. And if Li breaks a rule he must write a ‘self-criticism’. Which is a list of things that could happen if he continued to do that and had to promise that he would never do it again. If he doesn’t past the test, he may be expelled. Li felt trapped by the rules set at the academy, he felt like he was trapped in a cage of rules and had no freedom. The self-criticism never taught Li …show more content…
In the novel, Li talks about how “bound feet are still in fashion” (p.9). He explains that binding feet is when young girls “as young as five or six have to tuck four toes under the big toe and bandage them to stop the growth.” (p.9) This was considered as beautiful.
Wedding
In a Traditional Chinese Wedding, marriages are organised by marriage introducers. “Strong men are hired to carry two sedan chairs from the village to the bride’s. There are trumpets, cymbals, gongs, and bamboo flutes.” (p.10) This description shows that Chinese weddings are happy, celebratory and festive.
Chinese New Year
Li and his family always had good food during Chinese New Year. The food they eat are often symbolic. For example, “[His mother] made [bread rolls] in the shape of fishes and peaches, representing peace and prosperity, and gold bars representing wealth.” (p.36) This shows how much fun they have as well as their values of having peace, success and wealth.
Ancestors
The Li family went to their ancestors’ graves on the Chinese New Year. “We took bottles of water, representing food and wine, and stacks of yellowish rice paper stamped with the shape of old gold coins.” (p.37). The Li family “laid rice paper and incense on top of each grave” and “Lit the incense and kowtow three times, calling out each ancestor’ name”
Question
QUESTION 1
Theme – Cultural Customs One of the themes that was explored in the book Mao's Last Dancer was the theme of their cultural customs. Because of their culture, women had to leave their family forever when getting married and forget the past (At half way point one of the carriers will shout ‘flip your mirror!’ and she should forget the past and look forward to the future). Another theme is that the family is usually very sad when the daughter is getting married and happy at the same time because their daughter now has enough food and will be taken care of. One example is ‘She lowers the vail over her face and leaves, feeling nothing but pain.’
There were special cures for different medical problems. Such as eating snakeskin …show more content…
He made friends to help himself overcome the homesickness and sadness. One of the teachers, Teacher Xiao, became one of Li’s best friends. He helped Li like dancing and helped him overcome problems. While his friend Lujun (AKA Bandit) became Li’s blood brother, Bandit and Li became good friends and encouraged and pushed each other over their limits.
Theme – Follow the rules Li had to follow rules at the academy and most of the rules limit the amount of freedom Li gets. And if Li breaks a rule he must write a ‘self-criticism’. Which is a list of things that could happen if he continued to do that and had to promise that he would never do it again. If he doesn’t past the test, he may be expelled. Li felt trapped by the rules set at the academy, he felt like he was trapped in a cage of rules and had no freedom. The self-criticism never taught Li …show more content…
In the novel, Li talks about how “bound feet are still in fashion” (p.9). He explains that binding feet is when young girls “as young as five or six have to tuck four toes under the big toe and bandage them to stop the growth.” (p.9) This was considered as beautiful.
Wedding
In a Traditional Chinese Wedding, marriages are organised by marriage introducers. “Strong men are hired to carry two sedan chairs from the village to the bride’s. There are trumpets, cymbals, gongs, and bamboo flutes.” (p.10) This description shows that Chinese weddings are happy, celebratory and festive.
Chinese New Year
Li and his family always had good food during Chinese New Year. The food they eat are often symbolic. For example, “[His mother] made [bread rolls] in the shape of fishes and peaches, representing peace and prosperity, and gold bars representing wealth.” (p.36) This shows how much fun they have as well as their values of having peace, success and wealth.
Ancestors
The Li family went to their ancestors’ graves on the Chinese New Year. “We took bottles of water, representing food and wine, and stacks of yellowish rice paper stamped with the shape of old gold coins.” (p.37). The Li family “laid rice paper and incense on top of each grave” and “Lit the incense and kowtow three times, calling out each ancestor’ name”
Question