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AnonymousThe narrator's plight is a familiar one, played out in many countries and many eras, thought I suppose having this kind of experience in the modern age is perhaps more disconcerting in light of our supposedly enlightened modern age. People caught in the middle of historical events often have to keep a low profile simply in order to survive. I can understand her parent's reasoning in sending their daughter to a Japanese school. It could, when push came to shove be used as evidence that the family posed no threat to the authorities. Unfortunately, this approach served to protect them from aggressive threats from a dominate foreign power, it could not help them when that power was eventually overturned. It puts me in mind of all the Iraqi and Syrian families who today are trapped between multiple factions of a modern civil war.
AnonymousReflections on a constant. Disapproval of the new idea of women's freedom and the physical symbols of that freedom is an international theme. It's not difficult to think that with minor modifications these same kind of cartoons could have been published in New York, or London, or Calcutta. (Paris might be the exception, but then, would you expect anything less from the French.) The 1920s was an age of change, and change is often not the most welcome of situations.
AnonymousIt's amazing how often and how cavalierly the concept of an ideal is applied to the human condition. Even before its application, an ideal must be examined and analyzed in order to ensure the goals set by it are practical and achievable in regards to the human condition. Additionally, it must always be kept in mind that any ideal for which we as humans strive is only a benchmark, a goal that is established so we know in which direction to look and what qualities are worthwhile enough to seek out. By our very nature as non-perfect beings, an ideal cannot truly be achieved except perhaps for a very short period. Even when achieved, it does not take much to put the achievement out of alignment with the goal due to external factors such as society and nature, and internal factors such as perception and self-worth. Any time one discusses the belief in an ideal woman, or ideal society, or ideal anything, it must always be remembered that an ideal is as nebulous as the human mind itself.
edited by jhayden on 11/13/2016
AnonymousThis reading brought many things to my mind. Lessons taught by the Uncle, the family's use of a small ceremony to choose their Japanese name, which preserved the basic meaning of their name, even the beating which, in an unspoken way bonded Sun-hee to her uncle. It reinforced one basic idea that has been expressed in many ways throughout many different cultures; That which you keep in your heart can never be taken from you. It is sad to think of the circumstances under which the protagonist was forced to learn this lesson, but it clearly drove it home and connected with the reader.
The secret of the family name and Uncle's description of the Korean flag reminded me of another book with a similar message. As a teen I read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The book resolves the conflict of the destruction of culture in a similar way. Those escaping the distopic, anti-literature culture of the future kept the memory of books and reading alive by taking them into themselves. Culture is like that. It is part of us and no law, no regulation can unmake that which we choose to remember.
AnonymousIronic, indeed.
I think I can share bits of this story with my third grade students. Some of them will not relate, but some will. I have students who have moved from other places out of necessity, and one that I know of that was born in Mexico and then moved here with his parents. He said out loud in class on election day that he was worried that he would be deported if Donald Trump became president. It's hard to believe that 8 year olds in my class in California may be able to understand the plight of a Korean girl moving around with her family due to governmental, political chaos, but there is apparently nothing new under the sun. (I think it would help to use my large wall atlas to track the movements of the girl and her family throughout the story.) On a positive note, it is important for children to have real-life examples of people who have lived through adversity.
edited by elizabethr on 1/17/2017
AnonymousIf I share these with my students, we could talk about different things with each cartoon example. If this turns out to be productive, I can write a lesson plan for it. I would only discuss a couple of these with my students. Those that I believe would pertain to both boys and girls and are relatable to them. (8/9 years old)
Cartoon 1 - Do we see different styles of dress today? What are they? What style of clothing do you wear? Do you think people get treated differently if they have on clothing different than what you are wearing? How so?
Cartoon 2- Is this woman doing anything similar to what you see your mothers do? Does it seem reasonable to stay up really late or all night to read and write? Why do you think she does that?
Cartoon 3 - Do people today get made fun of because of the clothes they wear? Do you think it helps people to get along? What could we do instead?
Cartoon 4 - Can you study hard AND be fashionable at the same time?
Cartoon 5 - What do we think about jewelry? If we take off all of our jewelry, are we still the same person? If we put it back on, do we change?
Cartoon 6 - I'm not sure if I would share this one with 8 year olds, even though we have a lot of extremely short shorts on campus.
Cartoon 7 - ??? Not sure about this one.
edited by elizabethr on 1/17/2017
AnonymousKids are capable of understanding much more than we think, provided they have not been overly protected from the realities of life by the parents and/or teachers. I remember my own experiences with reading, and even when young I found it easier to identify with characters who were the underdogs of a story than any other kind of character. Understanding I believe comes with self-identification with characters and situations they find themselves in.
edited by jhayden on 11/14/2016
AnonymousThoroughly enjoyed the lecture this evening on Korea during the colonial period in the early 20th century. Was impressed by the determination of the Korean people to maintain their individual and cultural identity in spite of the attempts of Japan to dominate them. I wish that at the end of World War II, the western nations had been more aware of and prepared to support Korea's efforts to establish an independent nation and less concerned with the desires of the Soviet Union and Cold War politics. Such awareness and foresight might have avoided one war, and curtailed our current, and unfortunately necessary, confrontational policies with North Korea.
AnonymousReading this, I am reminded of a trip I took to Romania in 2004. Although the Velvet Revolution was 15 years past, the people I encountered held onto certain habits they developed under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist police state. Chief among these was leaving the lights off in the grey concrete apartment buildings found everywhere in Eastern Europe. I was told that it was because no one had any privacy. Living in constant fear of running afoul of government policy or having one’s loyalty called into question is something I haven’t experienced in my own country. I hope it stays that way.
AnonymousNew Women in Colonial Korea - Cartoon1 New Woman with a violin depicts a tall woman dressed in Western style clothing and holding a violin case while two traditional Korean men mock, tease and bully her. Students can compare this scenario to that in modern times. People still oppress others for looking different or dressing out of character. In Cartoon 2, Women are stuck in their domesticated roles and confined to traditional home life of cooking, cleaning and mending clothes. However, the other cartoons show New Women in Colonial Korea reaching out of their oppressed life for change. Their obsession with jewelry, wealth and beauty increases. They dream of a better life and the exaggerated ideas can effectively raise questions with students on the consequences of their actions.
AnonymousKorean Transformation - How has Korea changed from the 1950’s to present day? Students can explore the economic, political and cultural changes of Korea in comparison to American development. Students learn the impact of the Peace Corps involvement in Korea since the 1960’s. The volunteers helped promote peace, forgiveness and understanding. Perhaps that also led to a growing number of Korean Christian churches expanding in the states and resulted in many Korean-American parents naming their daughter “Grace”. Today, many Americans watch popular Korean dramas, K-pop music videos and films. Whey are they famous and what is the cross-over appeal to people in different types of audiences?
edited by Mayw on 11/20/2016
AnonymousWhen My Name Was Keoko
Fear, anger and resistance grow in Sun-hee’s family as they are forced to change their Korean names to Japanese. It’s upsetting to learn that the Japanese newspaper also twisted the words “all Koreans are to be graciously allowed to take Japanese names.” Uncle refuses and knows that that he will be arrested if he doesn’t register. However Abuji attempts to twist the name change. He chooses a Japanese name that translates into “gold mountain” to honor their Korean family history.
The idea that the Japanese also took full credit from the Korean Olympic gold runner Sohn-Kee Chung as their own also raises the question of ownership, theft and fraud. Chung was also forced to wear the Japanese flag on his uniform and carry a Japanese name. How would students react if their own language, identity and culture were now forbidden?
edited by Mayw on 11/20/2016
AnonymousI enjoyed the information we received about Colonial Korea. The change in culture--especially the view of modern women was something that piqued my interest. I went on a search and found a blog called "The Grand Narrative--Korean feminism, sexuality, and popular culture." One of the posts from 2012 included a cartoon about the "modern" woman from the colonialism period. It featured a traditionally dressed woman being chased by a traditionally dressed man--the woman running away. The next box shows a modern dressed woman chasing after a modern dressed man--with him running away. The modern woman was dressed in a short skirt, high heels, etc. Interestingly, in the bloggers narrative he shared that women may not have wanted to dress that way, but moved with times as it was expected of them. He stated, "In 1931, the Samcheomri began holding beauty pageants, which stressed ever more suggestive clothing as time went by. A daily newspaper of the time would proclaim that beauty standards were no longer just focused on the face, but now covered the whole body, requiring voluptuous breasts, an hourglass waistline, voluminous buttocks, and a slender figure." This is a different perspective. If society was expressing what "beautiful" was--and the women were changing their dress to be beautiful--should the women be judged? It was an interesting class. I'm sure this topic would be interesting to our high school students as well.
edited by cgao on 2/7/2017
AnonymousIt was good to learn the history of Korea and the story behind the 38th parallel. Better understanding the Soviet occupation in the North, and the US occupation in the south will allow me to explain the time period of the short story, "Cranes" by Hwang Sunwon. This story is in our textbook and I have taught it before--however, the last few years I have skipped it. When the professor mentioned the story at the end of her lecture I went back to it again and reviewed it. I will be able to give more insight to the historical context and make the story more pertinent to my students. I find that when I am more excited about a topic, that excitement transfers to my students and they become excited. The benefit of this class is that I am going back through my language arts book and looking at Asian lit. with new eyes.
AnonymousSimilarly, I have more than one student who has expressed very loud their apprehension about Trump becoming our next president. Their fear is very understandable. Sharing this story with them, it will help them see that many other have gone through similar experiences and despite all the difficulties life goes on and they can still succeed regardless of the political circumstances of the country. As educators I think we can help these students by providing opportunities for them to talk about their fears and listening to their concerns. I agree providing real life examples are one the best ways to motivate them and help them to move on.