Independent reading assignment-women of the silk

In many Asian countries, women were treated very poorly. When a woman was unable to have any sons, they were looked down upon. The novel Women of the silk moved me because the main character's mother is scolded for having another baby girl. Villagers think that she is cursed by the spirits/gods because she is unable to have healthy baby boy. The main character's father doesn't even bother looking at the baby when he hears that their fourth child is another girl. This moved me because as a child, my grandmother used to tell me how differently she and her brothers were treated from the elders. This moved me because if I was in the mother's place, I would not be able to survive under the unjust laws/rules that forbade women from doing things men could do.

Atonement-Amir

I think Amir feels guilty about a lot of things. One thing that Amir wishes to be forgiven was when he lied about the night that Hassan was abused by the other boys. He wants to make up for his mistake by placing his birthday gift beneath Hassan's bed. I think by making it seem like Hassan stole his watch, Hassan could be free and would no longer need to be treated poorly. I think Amir also wants to be forgiven by his father because he always feels bad about how he cannot live up to Baba's standards. He feels that he is letting his father down when he decides to write instead of doing things that Baba likes, such as soccer.

Mistakes

The biggest mistake that I have made in my life was when I first fought with my parents. As a child, I moved around a lot of countries and for this reason I had much difficulty adjusting to the new environments each time. When I first moved to America three years ago, there were many conflicts that I had to overcome. I had to learn to make new friends and had to learn to adjust to the new school system. Because I was mentally stressed, I started to complain to my parents about how it was their fault that I was having to experience all of the pain. After the whole argument with my parents, I made my parents feel bad about everything. Seeing how worried they were about me, I learned that I had caused them pain by saying all the mean things.

Preview Activity

The novel, Women of the Silk, by Gail Tsukiyama takes place during the time when China was influenced and controlled by the Japanese people. The novel is about the conflicts the two Chinese sisters must overcome. The book is mainly about how the two characters will fight to achieve their freedom. I think the author will talk about how poorly the Chinese people were treated by the Japanese government officials and how lowly women were treated by the Japanese men.

Women of the Silk
By Gail Tsukiyama
The book is about the Chinese and Japanese conflict during the early 1900s.
Is the book somewhat based on her own background history?
Does the story follow the history of China when it was controlled by the Japan?

The book is about two Chinese sisters. They work in the silk factory during the time when Japan had much control of the Chinese people. The books is about how the two sisters dream of becoming free from all of the repression.

preview activity

The book was written and published in 1991. The novel is dedicated to the author’s mother. The chapters are numbered and organized into different time periods in the character’s life. Some other novels that the narrator wrote are The Samurai’s Garden and Dreaming Water. The novel is written in third person and the author uses a lot of quotations to show the conversations between the characters in the novel.

I think the novel will be interesting to read because the author is half Chinese and Japanese. She may have different views of the history.

Short story

It was a gloomy morning. The American soldiers in Afghanistan were ordered to meet early in the morning to discuss the current war situations when suddenly the siren turned on. There was an emergency at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan and the soldiers were assigned into their units to go to the embassy building and stop all the commotion. While on their way to the embassy building, one of the trucks suddenly stopped. The car engine wasn't working so the soldiers had no choice but to walk their way to the site. Because the group of American soldiers were vulnerable of getting attacked from the Afghanistan terrorists, they had to keep their identity a secret. To avoid any possible shootings, the group of soldiers decided to take a short cut through the woods. However, a Afghanistan spy had already found out about the situation and were following the American soldiers. When the American soldiers decided to stop by the river to take a break, the Afghanistan terrorists took the opportunity to attack them. When the shooting started, the American soldiers defended themselves by shooting back. But the number of Afghanistan soldiers outnumbered the American unit team. In order to fight back, they needed more soldiers to help, so the captain sent one of is members to run to the embassy building and report the situation near the river. So the soldier ran to the embassy and two more units were brought in to help the soldiers fight back.

Decision Making

There are approximately thousands of decisions that I must make in any given day. Some are less important than others but they all affect me in various ways. The type of decisions I must make are usually influenced by the environment I am in and the people that I spend my time with. For instance, if I wanted to do something during class I must take into considerations of how my actions will affect the people around me. My friends and family affect how I make my decisions because they influence me to think and act in a certain way. For example, when I had to decide which college to go, I had to talk it over with my parents and make my final decisions. Also, there were times when I had to act a certain way because of my family. When my parents decided to come to America, I had decide to come with them.

Afghanistan

Recipe for Afghanistan: European influence, Third Anglo-Afghan war, Civil war, Soviet invasion and the Soviet War, establishment of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, rise and fall of Taliban, War in Afghanistan with U.S.