Student
Page
Introduction
This activity is designed to help you understand the geography of China
as you read the novel,
The Joy Luck Club. After you complete this, you will be
more familiar with China's geographical
boundaries and be able to tell where the cities and towns of the novel's
characters are located
within China. Notice the changes in spelling of some of the places;
this reflects influences from
China's cultural revolution.
The Task
Find a map of China on the Internet and draw a freehand map of China.
Then locate each of the
cities/towns/provinces/lakes/etc. on the list below in China and mark
thesesites on your freehand
map. Locating some of these sites will be challenging since the
list identifies the places as they
were spelled during the 1940's and earlier, during the time some of
The
Joy Luck Club's characters
lived in China. The more recent spellings of the names are similar
to the original spellings, but
"p's" and "b's" are sometimes reversed, as are "k's"and "g's," and
"ch's" and "sh's" and "zh's," etc.
On the following list of places to locate and mark on your freehand-drawn
maps, the first two towns'
newer names are in parentheses.
1. Kweilin (Guilin)
14. Tientsin
2. Chungking (Chongking)
15. Fukien
3. Shanghai
16. Shantung
4. Canton
17. Changsha
5. Burma (neighboring country)
18. Toishan
6. Nanking
19. Tsinan
7. Hangzhou
20. Shenzhen
8. Ningbo
21. Haiphong
9. the Fen River
22. Kwangsi Province
10. Wushi
23. Wuchang
11. Shansi Province
24. Tai Lake
12. Peking (Beijing)
25. Kunming
13. Hong Kong
Keep your maps and use them as reference for the geographical names
you will find in the novel as
you read. Many places where the characters lived and visited
are listed.
Use the following web sites to help you:
1. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/china.html#country.html
2. http://www.reliefweb.int/mapc/asi_chn/cnt/china_mg.html
(Map of China that shows
cities and rivers)
How You Will Be Graded:
Your freehand map of China must:
This activity is designed to help you find out cultural information
on China as you read the
novel, The Joy Luck Club. You will gain valuable understanding
about China and its diverse
backgrounds, some of its influences on the world, and the many challenges
it faces.
Use search engines to explore the Internet and find the answers
to the following questions
about China's culture. You are then to write a news article
that relates to one or more of the
areas mentioned in the questions below.
1. On which continent is China located?
2. List the eleven countries which border China.
3. What do the Chinese call their country (a word which means
"middle country")?
4. What is the capital of China?
5. How many square miles does China cover?
6. List the four largest cities in China.
7. How many people (approximately) live in China today?
8. On what is China's economy primarily based?
9. Though religion is discouraged by the government, it has
played an important part in
traditional chinese life. List three major religions of the Chinese.
10. The most respected and influential philosopher in Chinese history
stressed the need to
develop moral character. Who was he?
11. Name one "medical" procedure which originated in China but is
being practiced in
America today.
12. List two to three extremely popular and traditional exports from
China.
13. Describe the Cultural Revolution in China. How might it
have influenced the name
changes of China's cities and towns, etc.?
How You Will Be Graded:
Your newspaper article must:
Introduction
This activity is designed to make you aware of the challenges early
Chinese immigrants
faced coming to California during the mid to late 1800's. You will
also learn how the
Chinese influenced history and terrain--especially in California.
You may be surprised to find
out how much influence early Chinese immigrants had on California's
history. If you live near
Sacramento,California, several questions might especially interest
you.
The Task
Use the Internet and find the answers to the following questions.
You are then to write a news
article that relates to one or more of the areas discussed.
1. Find out why Chinese immigrants originally came to California
in the mid 1800's.
2. For what purpose did Congress pass the Foreign Miners License
Law of 1850?
3. In California, early Chinese immigrants provided labor for many
projects. Name at least
three major projects or uses for their labor.
4. The Chinese worked with the Irish in providing labor for which
major railroad project?
5. Once the railroad (answer to #4) was completed in 1869, the Chinese
were then hired at
$1.00 a day to build which major project along the Delta area of the Sacramento
River?
6. The West's only all-Chinese town is a small town fairly close
to Sacramento, California.
What is its name? (Note: This is NOT Chinatown of San Francisco.)
7. Only a mile down river from (answer to #6) is another town that
once held a high popula-
tion of Chinese. What is its name?
8. One famous Chinese entrepreneur of Sacramento came to California
to look for his father.
He lived in the catacombs beneath Sacramento while working as a dishwasher.
He is
commonly referred to as the second governor of California. A famous
restaurant in Old
Sacramento bears this man's name, and his family has opened other restaurants
using
the family's name. Who was this?
Use the following web sites to help you answer the above questions:
1. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views3.htm
2. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/locke/locke.htm
3. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/locke/losetting.htm
5. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views3h.htm
6. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views3g.htm
7. http://www.fatsrestaurants.com/calfats/index.html
How You Will Be Graded:
Your newspaper article must:
Activity
4
Writing An Expository Essay 
Introduction
The novel, The Joy Luck Club, takes place in two countries--China
and the United States. The
action in San Francisco, California, primarily occurs in modern-day
times. The action in China,
however, occurs over three periods of time: (1) when the mothers are
children (somewhere
around the years 1912-1920), (2) just prior to or during World War
II, and (3) during
modern-day times (within the past 20-30 years).
The Task
While most students are familiar with United States and California history,
you are probably not
nearly as familiar with some of the events that occurred in China during
World War II. By exploring
information on the Internet, you will better understand how the Chinese--including
the mothers in the
The Joy Luck Club before they immigrated to the United States--were
affected by wartime occurrences.
Using the web sites listed below, find the answers for the following:
1. Identify China's political position during World War II.
2. Identify several ways in which people in China were mistreated
by the Japanese
during World War II.
3. Analyze why many people--including the mothers in the novel, The
Joy Luck
Club--left China following World War II.
You will each then write an expository essay which explores the difficulties
of the Chinese
people during World War II and speculates on the varied reasons why
the mothers from the
The Joy Luck Club left China after the war, immigrating to the
United States.
Use the following web sites to help you follow the above directions:
1. http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jhkeong/alpha_ww2_wu.html
2. http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~dyue/wiihist/njmassac/purge.htm
3. http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/reference/index.html
How You Will Be Graded:
Your essay should: