thoughts about session 10 on 7/31 w/Dr. Dube

[Anonymous]

I really liked hearing about Chun Duxiu. He was just this idealistic young man who wanted his country to be better than it was. So out of that passion came the Communist Party in China. I wonder if he would like the end result today?

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed this evening's movie about the grandmother and grandson. The lack of respect the little boy showed his elders was very surprising. But, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I didn't think the boy's mother showed much love or respect for her mother. I wondered why, at the end of the movie when the boy left with his mother, why the grandmother wasn't invited to go with them. That grandmother had so much patience with that child.

[Anonymous]

I also liked the Meiji rescription on education. When we get to China unit I'm going to have my students recite it.

[Anonymous]

I thought you would like to see the work of the Gao brothers which has been banned in China and is for the first time being exhibited in Europe. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/the-gao-brothers-the-exec_n_1720743.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl25%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D186334#slide=1302777

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed the movie and it made me think about several things such as aging, loneliness, unconditional love, and parent neglect.

[Anonymous]

The bit about the literature written during the 1920s and 1930s was very interesting. I believe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and its series) were written during this time period. The type of literature called wuxia did well during this time period, though I believe it was banned for a while during the beginning of the People's Republic. I'd be interested in learning more about this genre and part of history. If there are any education sites or texts for me to check out, I would be grateful.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the movie The Way Home. I have watched a few Korean films and picked up on some subtleties I found interesting. One of the them including how the boy spoke to his grandmother in the non-formal speech, but when he asked for directions from the old man he used the correct polite form. Another was how he was pushing and kicking his mother. This was not just him being a brat, but a kind of role reversal as in other movies, from experience with Korean friends, parents (mothers) are prone to hitting their children in the way he was hitting his mother on the bus.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the movie last night. In truth, it was hard to watch for pretty much the entire movie because it debunked a lot of my stereotypes about Asian children. I think I can use this movie to teach my stereotypes unit to my students. The movie also lends itself to the discussion of culture and etiquette. The funny part is, I think my students will also hate the little boy for a good part of the movie.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed this movie, although I do not think I would have the time to watch it in full and discuss it with students. Perhaps it would be good for an after-school viewing or an international movie day. I think that you could have a good discussion with students about culture, different generations, social customs and norms, and Confucianism and the treatment of elders. Often respect and disrespect are important topics of discussion in middle school, and this movie could be be a catalyst for that discussion.

My favorite aspect of the movie was watching the patience and love of the grandma even when faced with a grandson who treated her so poorly. It showed the generous love that was not based on reciprocation, and it was lovely to see the change that occurred, although very slowly, to her grandson.
edited by gmitchell on 8/1/2012

[Anonymous]

It was very surprising the behavior of the boy in the movie. The grandmother had great patience and unconditional love. It is interesting to make a correlation with children in America and their treatment of their elders. Parents are the first teachers of their children, and the boy reflected his mother’s concerns for his grandmother. At the end, I expected the mother to ask the grandmother to live with them.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Tameka that having a discussion with students about the politics of semantics especially in regard to war names could be very educational and interesting. So many times our words and names for events or people can reflect politics and points of view in the United States, and it is interesting to see this trend occur in other countries as well.

This could also lead to a discussion of who gets to make the decisions about the names of seas or wars or groups of people. What weight does a name have? Does a name have meaning or influence? Since typically the "winner" of the war gets to name it or tell the history of the conflict, what does this tell us about the accuracy of history?

[Anonymous]

I thought the discussion about the meaning of numbers in China was interesting as even in the US we often put a lot of weight in numbers. I remember 7/7/2007 there was a huge number of weddings. I actually found a Time magazine article showing that this day was the most popular day for weddings ever.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1630320,00.html

I think in Western cultures 7 is a special number as well. According to Genesis, the world was created in 7 days, there were the 7 wonders of the ancient world, Shakespeare's 7 Ages of Man, and even the magical properties of 7 in the Harry Potter series, to name a few.

Sometimes in discussions about other cultures and the many differences, it is good to bring in some of the similarities between our cultures as well.

[Anonymous]

This was a very interesting movie. First of all, I was very surprised to see the son behaving this way toward his mother and grandmother. Secondly, I was taken back to see the mother leaving her son there even though the grandmother objected. Then I witness something magnificant, a bonding between the grandmother and grandson. I think this stay changed the grandson's life forever. I think this movie will be educational for my students - for them to witness unconditional love, they don't really know what that look like.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Hi all,

Please share your thoughts about the 10th session here.

[Anonymous]

Interesting Korean movie. It was painful for me to watch though. Interesting to know that some areas of South Korea still look like that. That was surprising to me but that is why we are here. To learn!

[Author]

Posts