Red Scarf Girl Literary Analysis

The Cultural Revolution was a time of much confusion in china. The memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang illustrates the chaos of that time. Ji-li’s experiences during this time period led to her point of view changing. Ji-li starts the Cultural Revolution full of progressive thoughts, but this quickly turns to confusion, and leads to an important choice, something that impacts the rest of her life.

1. How does Ji-li’s opinion about the Communist Party and its beloved leader, Mao Ze-dong, change over the course of her story? Name some of the most crucial events in the autobiography and explain how they change Ji-li's feelings about the party.

According to the Online Dictionary, the “Chinese Cultural Revolution” is defined as “a movement in China, beginning in the year 1966 and led by Mao Zedong, to restore the vitality of communism in China.” To begin, the Chinese Cultural Revolution performed a significant role in establishing the setting and conflicts in the novel of “Red Scarf Girl”. The setting of the story took place in the city of Shanghai, specifically throughout the course of two and a half years from the year 1966 to 1969. The protagonist and narrator of the story, Ji Li Jiang, was a 12-year-old Chinese girl who lived as a wealthy resident in the brownstone apartments of Shanghai. As the story progressed, Ji Li developed alterations in her relationships with her peers at school, the perception of her goals and responsibilities in life, and knowledge of her family history in relation to her class-status in the community. Therefore, throughout the course of the story, it was evident that significant changes and development of the relationships, perceptions, and knowledge of Ji Li Jiang occurred as a result of the events that she experienced.

This is a 100-point assignment which will guide you as you read Red Scarf Girl. You do not need to write in complete sentences, but the full meaning of what you say should be apparent and understandable.

When Jan Wong first arrived in China, she was filled with the complete belief that China’s totalitarianism way of government was the best way of governing, and that no other way would do. While natives smiled behind false expressions, she failed to realize the true extent of the miserable lives under the Maoist regime until she herself experienced the injustices faced by the Chinese citizens. In Red China Blues, author Jan Wong writes of her experiences during her life in China and after, and how her whole journey led to the realization of the harsh reality that Maoism really was. As Wong learned more and more about the truth behind the totalitarian government, her own experiences helped her to transform

Life is a precious thing, and it is so precious that some people will undergo severe anguish to hold on to it. During the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany, people of the Jewish religion were diabolically oppressed and slaughtered, just for their beliefs. Some Jews went to extreme measures to evade capture by the German law enforcement, hoping to hold on to life. Krystyna Chiger was only a small child when her family, along with a group of other desperate Jews, descended into the malignant sewers to avoid the Germans. After living in the abysmal sewers for fourteen months, her group emerged, and when she became an adult, she authored a novel about her time in the sewer. When analyzing the literary elements utilized in her novel, The Girl in the Green Sweater, one can determine how tone and mood, point of view, and conflict convey the message of struggle and survival that was experienced during the Holocaust, and how they help the reader to understand and relate.

This memoir of Ma Bo’s sent shock waves throughout China when it was published and was even first banned by the Communist Government. This passionate story paints a clear picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was really like. Many Chinese living today can attest to similar if not identical ordeals as expressed in Ma Bo’s story. The toils of being a young Red Guard in inner China were experienced by many if not millions. The horrors and atrocities were wide spread throughout the country, not just in Inner Mongolia. The experiences illustrated in Blood Red Sunset uniquely belong to Ma Bo’s entire generation of mislead Chinese. As expressed in the books dedication the Cultural Revolution

For the pathos, Jia Jiang is always illustrating his perspectives through all kinds of stories and these stories are primarily his real experiences. For instance, Jia Jiang talked a story about one of his first grade teacher’s game, the kids got gifts if receiving the compliments from the other classmates. However, he was first rejected and he was only 6 years old. Because he introduces his own interesting experience to

The book is a written as conversational memoir between two women, Ye Weili and Ma Xiaodong about their experience during the first three decades of Mao’s era. The two women had gone through almost similar position and situations in their life, faced equivalent hardships, their approach or attitude towards those experiences in a completely different manner. This book is meticulous in its historical detail, making it a standout among similar memoirs of twentieth-century China. It also tries to add another dimension of the general perspective of historic events. The events are described in a chronological sequence and with the right amount of proper relevant information so the reader can understand the conversation.

In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.

The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When

“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.

Throughout European colonization in Canada Aboriginals were pressured to abandon their cultural identity and assimilate into western civilization. Aboriginals had inhabited the land for centuries; Aboriginals had already established their own distinct trade networks, social hierarchies and spiritual beliefs. Canadian colonization threatened the existence of Aboriginal culture; Europeans strove to achieve civilization in Canada and coerced “uncivilized” Aboriginals to adopt a Eurocentric way of life. This paper will argue that, a Marxist critique, of “A Red Girls’ Reasoning” demonstrates the persecution of Aboriginal culture in a Eurocentric society. Christine’s mixed race heritage enables her to play a role as a transgressor of rigid class, race and gender distinctions, representing her struggles as a microcosm of the imbalance between European and Aboriginal culture.

Cynthia Ozick uses several symbolisms throughout the course of this compelling story of “The Shawl”. Ozick uses descriptive details to have interaction the reader. This use of symbolism is extremely vital to the story. Themes of survival, humanity, motherhood, tolerance, and prejudice course through the canvas of the vivid image the author tries to color for the readers. The author uses symbolism copiously to assist the reader envision the setting. Ozick uses several symbols and imaging as an example the brutality of concentration camps throughout warfare II. What makes the scarf distinctive from alternative stories that have chronicled the horrors of Nazism is that the method Artemis Ozick brings the characters to life. “I don’t wish to

The early twentieth century is viewed as a moment in time that had a profound impact on how literature is written until this very day. Events during this epoch such as the May Fourth Movement were viewed as the catalysts for many modern writers past and present to break the mould. This would enable an author to express their deepest thoughts without fearing the repercussions like it had in the past. Lu Xun was a renowned writer that was even considered by Mao Zedong to be ‘commander of China’s cultural revolution’ with reference to Lu Xun’s sophisticated and innovative stories illustrating the social unjust and inequality amongst the Chinese people. Thus, Lu Xun’s literature ranging from his short stories ‘Diary of A Madman’ and ‘New