Red Scarf Girl : A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

Rating:
Summary: Its Great
Review: My opinion of this book is it was great.I mean it told exactly what was going on and what jili was feeling.I believe that her sticking with her family instead of changing her name was the right decision.

Rating:
Summary: good
Review: it was a good book. it tought a good lesson. I liked learning about ji-li-jiang life. They were fighting for a cause that i dont agree with. I dont think she knew what the meaning of what she was fighting for. But she was born into it with her parents teaching her these things. I admire her fight and i would recamend this book to others.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderfully Written Memoir - Deserves 11 and a half stars!
Review: This book was a beautifully written book. In my school, we have a book discussion group and we read this book. We were all very much impressed. It was about a historical event - the Cultural Revolution - that isn't written about very often. We found the book very compelling and realistic. At first, I believed that it was just a historical fiction book and that te answer would be obvious - that she would side with her family. But when I realized that the book was an autobiography, I wasn't that sure. I liked how she was deciding between her family and Mau.After I found out that it was an autobiography, I actually thought that she was going to side with Mau! I mean, she almost changed her name because she was afraid that her family history would get her killed. The ending was nice....it wasn't one of those cornball 'goody-goody' endings, but it was a realistic, life-like ending, one that is really comforting and peaceful. I enjoyed this book very much.....11.5 stars, five thumbs up...wow.

Rating:
Summary: Such a easy-understandable fun book
Review: I have chosen this book just because it seemed easy for me. However, when i started to read it, i just gave myself up to this book. Especially the part where the red guards came and search Ji-Li's house, i couldn't even breath loudly because i felt the same way as Ji Li.
I am happy to choose this book instead of other long boring books.
This book was easy-understandable and exiting!

Rating:
Summary: A review of Red Scarf Girl
Review: The Red Scarf Girl written by Ji Li Jiang is a touching true story about her experiences of the Culteral Revolution. It is well written and moving.
Ji-li Jiang is 12 years old in 1966. At the beginning Ji-li is thrilled to be involved in the Cultural Revolution, but as time passes things change. The government starts saying that teachers are evil and the students are told to write Da-ai-baoes criticizing the teachers. Ji-li has difficulties with this because she has always been a good student. She than, has to go along with the rest of her classmates when they go and give her aunt a da-ai-baoe to put on her front door about herself. A few days later some of the students write a da-ai-baoe about Ji-li. The Red Guards came in the middle of the night to search her house for four-olds leaving it a mess.As Ji-li cleans up she realizes that homes are suppose to protect people's privacy.All throughout the book Ji-li kept her head up and continued the best she could with her life. She was really brave realizing that sooner or later things would get better. Ji-li remains loyal to her family although things would be worse for her that way.
Ji-li is in some ways a heroine,she survives through these tough times and tells her story in an unforgettable way.It is a good book to read and very eye-opening.

Rating:
Summary: Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Review: The memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang is a poignant and true story about a young girl's coming of age during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Set in the late 60s, Ji Li was an enthusiastic Young Pioneer who dreamed of becoming a part of Chairman Mao's renowned Liberation Army. However, the intelligent young girl was about to get a startling insight into the true nature of the Communist Party. This memoir shows how youthful enthusiasm and patriotism were exploited by the political party and plunged the era into tragedy and turmoil.

Throughout the book, there is a constant stream of unpleasant events popping up in Ji Li's life.Chairman Mao was a turgid river,washing away the soil that was Ji LI's revolutionary spirit with the sticks and stones of hard work and poverty until her righteous courage began to shine through. The many hardships she faced only served to strengthen her in ways she had not known she had before. She found out that she had an inner courage and stubbornness, as well as the feeling that what they were doing in school was wrong. Events at school, at home, and even in the street were gradually showing Ji Li that Chairman Mao's Revolutionary China would not be at all what they expected.

Ji Li Jiang had always thought of her family as perfect. In times when rooms were small and cramped,her family had a room ten times as large and a hundred times brighter than many of her classmates. On Saturdays there would sometimes be wonderful parties where her Dad's colleagues would come and visit. Everything was perfect in her life until the Liberation Army Dancer came to Xin Er Primary School. After being tested for flexibility, Ji Li was chosen as one fo the few students recruited for the honor of auditioning for the elite Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. However,when she shared the happy news with her family during dinner, their reaction was different from what she expected. "Don't do the audition" was all her father said, but those words revealed that the political background of her family was not as perfect as she would would like to believe. Should she obey her father or pursue her dream? None of her classmates at school could see the innter battle that wreaked havoc within Ji Li's mind. Then, when some of them turned upon her in revolutionary righteousness, Ji Li was thrown even deeper into confusion.

When she was forced to listen to her bourgeois Aunt Xi-wen read the shameful da zi bao posted about her, Ji Li realized that there was something truly wrong with Chairman Mao's ideology. Surrounded by her revolutionary clasmates, however, she could do nothing but stare at her feet in shame.When her father was detained on the basis of a false accusation of listening to foreign radio, Ji Li was pressured to stand againsd her father in trial. By so doing, she would be allowed to purge herself of her family's bad class status and go on to become a Red Successor. Ji Li knew that it was not the right thing to do. She stolidly refused to betray her father each and every time the matter cameup and it showed that there was a great deal of inner strength in the 14-year-old girl.

The story of the Red Scarf Girl flows smoothly. The honest and staightforward way that Ji Li retells her childhood makes the reader feel as if he/she were really there. However, it is mildy depressing to follow so many tragic events in a young girl's life. For readers who are looking for fun books to read, this is not a good choice.

Rating:
Summary: A review of Red Scarf girl
Review: In today's world, people are taught that heroic people must influence the masses. Only those who have monumental physical strength, celebrity status, or piles of money have the resources to affect the world around them. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang disproves these notions. This non-fiction book tells the story of a 12 year-old girl growing up in the midst of the Cultural Revolution who becomes a hero to her family. The glossary at the end of the book defines the Cultural Revolution as "The social and political upheaval that overtook China from 1966 to 1976. During this time many innocent people were ruthlessly persecuted. THe Cultural Revolution was launched by Chairman Mao, supposedly to rid the country of anti-Communist influences. Long afterward it was revealed that Chairman Mao unleashed this chaos in order to protect his own political position." (pg. 276) Red Scarf Girl is a moving, well-written story.
The book opens with a prologue, in which Ji-Li tells the reader the single most important lesson in school: "Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." (pg. 1) The people of China are brainwashed with this mantra, but Ji-Li does not feel it plays a large role in her life until sixth grade. Always a high achiever, she is looking forward to attending Shi-yi, an elite middle school. Then, Chairman Mao nullifies all teacher recommendations and divides children into schools by neighborhood; meaning Ji-Li will not go to Shi-yi. This is only the beginning of Ji-Li's problems. She becomes an outcast in school, her house is searched and Communist officers take everything of value, all because of her family's middle class status. Ji-Li's father is held in prison because his father was the evilest of all men - a landlord. Ji-Li is offered freedom from her "black" (non-Communist) class status by Communist officers. All she has to do is break from her family and testify against her father. No 12 year old should have to make the decisions she did.
Ji-Li Jiang used literary techniques to tell her story effectively. She is very descriptive, for example, "The kitchen, located on the landing and crowded with pots and pans and a two burner stove, was crowded and stuffy. With the heat from the sun outside and the heat from the stove in front of me, I was simply melting." (pg. 90) Ji-Li uses dialogue to make the story more interesting. Though she may not have remembered exactly what everyone said, the dialogue keeps the book moving. Although the book does not tell of her life throughout the entire Cultural Revolution, the book has a satisfying ending; not a fairytale finish, but a hopeful one. All of these storytelling elements enrich Red Scarf Girl.
One of the most important qualities of a hero is selflessness. Ji-Li Jiang showed this repeatedly. A Communist officer offered to let her change her name in order to break from her "anti-Communist" family. She almost does, but then, "I thought of Aunt Xi-wen lying in the alley (being punished for having bad class status), and Shan-Shan (her son, who had "broken" from her) walking right past her. I jumped up and ran out." (pg. 215) Later, people from her father's work unit pulled her out of class and gave her a very serious decision to make. "'As I told you before, you are your own person. If you want to make a clean break with your black family, then you can be an educable child and we will welcome you to our revolutionary ranks'...I saw myself standing in the middle of the stage, facing thousands of people...condemning Dad for his crimes, raising my fist to lead the chant." (pg. 224-5) Ji-Li refuses his offer, which meant that although she would be frowned upon in society, she would remain faithful to her family. It would have been easy for Ji-Li to change her name or testify against her father to save herself. Heroes, however, have the strength to be selfless.
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang shows how one 12 year old had the strength to be a hero, to be selfless. Ji-Li was not rich, very physically strong, or well-known. She only put others before herself, a truly heroic action. Clearly, Ji-Li Jiang put her best effort into this book. Red Scarf Girl is exceptionally written, and can inspire everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Review: This book is a memoir written from the perspective of the author as a 12-year-old girl living during the Cultural Revolution in China. It takes place in the later 1960s, starting in 1966. My opinion of this story was that it was a very informative and interesting story, but not a very satisfying one. The details in this book helped to visualize the settings and atmosphere. They help inform people about what had happened in China during the Cultural Revolution, which is something people need to know about. The characters were very believable, as they were all actual people. The author did not leave out any of the grittier details, and showed how "black families" were treated. The description of the treatment of Jiang Ji-li and her family and how Du Hai and Yin Lan-lan acted towards their peers with bad class backgrounds.

The only potential flaw with this book isn't really a flaw at all. This is the fact that the story is not a very satisfying one, although, this was not meant to. It wasn't meant to resolve everything at the end. Ji-li's situation keeps on getting worse and worse throughout the story. The Cultural Revolution was not a happy time in China, so this story is rightly dismal.

Do not read this book looking for a story where all things are set right again at the end. Read this story to learn about the hardships that took place during the Cultural Revolution in China. It is a story that needs to

Rating:
Summary: Ji-li Jiang, A heroine of the Cultural Revolution
Review: Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-li Jiang, is about her experience of growing up during the Cultural Revolution. Chinese ruler Mao Ze Dong launched the Cultural Revolution to rid China of anti communist ideals. Many people were ruthlessly prosecuted for being considered capitalists, revisionists, or threats to communism. Ji-li Jiang's family was among these people. She captivates audiences as she relates her heroic tale of surviving the Cultural Revolution. Ji-li symbolizes many heroic traits, like perseverance and courage, which readers will admire. She faces difficult decisions between family and politics while trying to achieve in that harsh environment. Ji-li Jiang captures the attention of readers in Red Scarf Girl as she struggles to establish her identity, strives to succeed, and she displays courage during China's Cultural Revolution.

Ji-li Jiang at the tender age of twelve was expected to assert an identity either for or against the communist party. Ji-li's father's boss told her, "Now you have to choose between two roads. You can break with your family and follow Chairman Mao (Mao Ze dong) or you can follow your father and become an enemy of the people (pg. 226)." Readers could comprehend the immense difficulty that Ji-li felt in making this decision. She was forced to be a hero, determine which side was right, and defend her position. During the revolution, Ji-li's family was considered a black family, or a family against Chairman Mao. Ji-li considered changing her name. One could only imagine the hard time Ji-li was having if she was considering to break from her family. Due to her black status, Ji-li was unsure if she should participate in the Class Education Exhibition at school and risk unwanted criticism. She wanted to avoid bad publicity but also longed to succeed. Audiences became curious to learn if Ji-li will remain true to her family or if she will follow her beloved Chairman Mao and the communist party as she grew up during the Cultural Revolution.

Ji-li always strived to succeed, even when it was difficult to in the Cultural Revolution. The heroic perseverance Ji-li demonstrated is amazing despite her hard situation. Ji-li tried to rid herself of luxurious "bourgeois" habits by doing housework. She felt by performing chores she would not be associated with her black class status and her grandfather, who was a landlord. When Ji-li was sent to the rural country to perform summer labor, she showed the strength and ambition a hero has. Ji-li's summer task was to help with the rice harvest in the withering heat and harsh conditions of the farm. Readers admire Ji-li's ambition to continue with this labor and the devotion to Chairman Mao she showed while harvesting was impressive. In the classroom, Ji-li also worked diligently to earn good grades in school. In school, if Ji-li aced a test, her classmates congratulated her. She felt the approval and appreciation a hero experiences when he or she succeeds. Ji-li Jiang was determined to achieve during the Cultural Revolution, despite the barriers of this time and readers will feel inspired by her determination.

To survive the Cultural Revolution required courage, and Ji-li definitely had this courage to overcome the obstacles she faced. At school, humiliating da-zi-bao was written about her that made her feel angry and embarrassed. Still, she continued to attend classes and maintain her personal dignity. Facing the classmates who wrote the awful posters took admirable courage. The incident that first required Ji-li to show all her bravery is the detainment of her father. Her father was held at his theater for being a rightist. Ji-li must display she is not afraid of what could happen since she had to be responsible and she could worry her mother. Another time Ji-li showed courage was when her family was accused of owning large amounts of land and businesses in the past. This was considered a crime in communist China and her family was scorned and mocked for it. Ji-li tried very hard to reeducate herself and maintain honor and dignity. The courage Ji-li showed in Red Scarf Girl was astounding.

Ji-li Jiang's story shows readers that despite how difficult times become, one must strive to survive as best as possible and maintain faith in oneself. She is truly a hero that readers of all ages will love to read about. She is ambitious, determined, and audacious. She demonstrates qualities of heroes throughout the ages. Her story makes readers appreciate the individual freedoms of the United States. Ji-li Jiang is a true hero who covets success and shows bravery during China's Cultural Revolution.

Rating:
Summary: a book everyone should read!
Review: Overview of book:
Ji Li Jiang, was a twelve year old girl living in China during the 60's, who had everything going for her; intelligence, admiration of her peers, and a leading personality-all until Chairman Mao Ze Dong, launched his views of communism in the year of 1966. Everything began to change for Ji Li and her family, she and her family were now the center of numerous accusations, and humiliating insults all because her family's past class status. Because she was well off economically, she was criticized for over working the poor and paying them little. Some poor citizens blamed the countries poverty on unequal distribution of wealth. Many thought it wasn't fair that there were rich people driving by in their nice automobiles while poor starving beggars living on the streets were desperately struggling to survive. "Down with the Four Olds!" was a common fraise that was expressed, which meant execute old ways. The majority of the country was completely brainwashed and was teaching their children that they must get rid of the way things used to be. It got so ridiculous, almost everything you did and owned was considered a four old, and was either confiscated and destroyed or you were criticized and humiliated in public. Then, Ji Li was faced with the most important decision of her life; part with her family and follow chairman Mao, or stay with her family and continue to be humiliated and accused of breaking the four olds and live in fear of the communist party. Ji Li as well as many others lived in great fear during this time, and lives were changed dramatically forever.
Opinion:
The Ideal audience for this book was for everybody! It was a book about a serious issue that adults can understand and relate to, but it was told through the eyes of a child so that children too, can understand. The author's literary techniques were used in the form of foreshadowing, and through static characters. Ji Li Jiang, initially stayed the same throughout the story, although she was forced to mature a lot quicker than she normally would have, with having the new responsibilities of taking care of her younger brother and sister and her mother. The story was told through an interesting point of view that was very personal because it was based on a true story of the author herself. The book was an absolute page-turner with the point of the theme to show "just how much one person can effect the lives of so many". Ji Li was so innocent and had an admiring personality. She ran into breathtaking events that kept you off the edge of your seat and made it extremely interesting to read. Recommendations for this book are, I believe everyone should read this book because it teaches you a good lesson, with a little bit of history from a very personal point of view.