Reading Activities compiled by Stephani Ward |During Reading|After Reading| Before Connections 1) Title Free-write Have the kids do a free-write on what they think would write a story about if the title were Year of Impossible Goodbyes. Then have the kids do a free-write on what they think the story might be about based on the title and author. 2) Vandergrift, Kay E. “Learning About Sook Nyul Choi.” 4 Dec 1998. <http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/choi.html>. This website offers background information on the life of Sook Nyul Choi as well as some of her opinions on reading and writing. There is also information on the awards that Year of Impossible Goodbyes won and also “pertinent Korean history.” 3) Exploration of Korea In order to get the students interested in foreign affairs, assign them to do a report on something that has to do with Korea in present time. For example, students could give a report on Korean government, foods, clothing, school, or cultural customs. 4) “Brief History of Korean Currency.” The Bank of Korea. 2005. <http://www.bok.or.kr/template/eng/html/index.jsp?tbl=tbl_FM0000000066_CA0000001019>. Students can learn about the history of the money used in Korea from this Bank of Korea website. There are also pictures of Korean currency at http://www.bok.or.kr/template/eng/html/index.jsp?tbl=tbl_FM0000000066_CA0000001017. 5) “Religion.” Life in Korea. 25 September 2006. <http://www.lifeinkorea.com/information/religion.cfm>. This website discusses the top five religions in Korea and describes each one briefly, as well as briefly describes its role in Korean history. 6) “Topographical and Political Map of Asia.” 25 September 2006. <www.theodora.com/maps/new8/asia_p_p.jpg>. Give a quiz on Asian geography to help students visualize locations while reading about Sookan. 7) Google Search: Korean Images. 25 September 2006. <http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Korean%20history&sa=N&tab=wi>. This website provides links to numerous images from Korean history, as well as the original text that the image was found in. This will be helpful with visual aids throughout the unit. 8) “List of Korean Americans.” Wikipedia. 18 October 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_Korean_Americans>. Familiarize students with famous Korean Americans in order to help them make personal connections and avoid having a story about a Korean family be so abstract. 9) Dowling. “Mrs. Dowling’s Literary Terms.” 22 March 2004. <http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/LitTerms.html>. The website gives a list of literary terms that will be useful in preparing students for the book. The site also has links for each term that you can click on for more information. 10) Noll, Paul. “South Korean Flag.” 2002. <http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/History/South-Korean-flag.html>. This website shows the Korean flag and describes the symbolism of the colors and patterns. The students could learn about the Korean flag and then design their own flag based on what they know about symbols and the meanings of colors. During Connections 11) Identification Have the students complete a running assignment throughout the entire reading of the novel where they write down each character and each place mentioned and include a brief description. 12) Vocabulary Activity or Vocabulary Quiz Either give an assignment to the students to find 20 words while reading that they don’t know and have them give the definition and use it in a sentence, or quiz them on twenty words (for example, epaulet, skein, benevolent, nuna, vehemently, brooding, harmony, defiance, derisively, disdain, droning, impetuous, vigorously, permeate, proletariat, scrutinize, dissipate, ominous, signify, incessantly, frenetically, pensive) 13) Shin, Gi-Wook. “The Historical Making of Collective Action: The Korean Peasant Uprisings of 1946.” The American Journal of Sociology. 1994: 1596-1624. JSTOR. 02 October 2006. <http://www.jstor.org/view/00029602/dm992739/99p05182/0>. The text mentions that the grandfather was in Manchuria fighting for Korean Independence. This article uses the example of the Korean peasant uprisings 1946 as a means for studying collective action and the effectiveness of organized protest. 14) National Anthems.com. 02 October 2006. < http://david.national-anthems.net/index.html>. Play the North Korean and South Korean national anthems in class. Have the students perform a brief free-write comparing the two anthems, or comparing one with the national anthem of the United States. Here are websites with an mp3 of the respective songs: http://david.national-anthems.net/kp.htm , http://david.national-anthems.net/kr.htm. Here are websites with English translations of the words to each respective song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegukka , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegukga. 15) Park, Eunyoung. “From Birth to First Birthday in Traditional Korea.” TOPICS Online Magazine. 2006. <http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/cultural/korea1.htm>. The text mentions rice cakes and millet cakes. This website provides information about traditions of expecting mothers and fathers; it mentions that for good luck, pieces of rice cake and millet cake should be delivered to one hundred neighbors. This site http://english.tour2korea.com/03Sightseeing/TravelSpot/travelspot_read.asp?oid=3227&kosm= provides additional information about foods associated with different Korean celebrations. 16) Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels. Manifesto of the Communist Manifesto. London: 1848. <http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html>. This text describes the basic tenets of Communism. It describes the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and will give the students a deeper understanding of Communism and the effect it had in Korea. 17) “Old Folks at Home.” Wikipedia. 17 August 1006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swanee_River>. The text mentions that the main character Sookan sings the song, “Swanee River.” This website has a link to an mp3 of the song, the lyrics of all three verses, and a brief history of the song. Have the students discuss why the author might have referenced this song; ask the students to draw connections between the lyrics of the song and the text they are reading. 18) Kim, Choong Soon. A Korean Nationalist Entrepreneur. Albany: SUNY Press,1998. 7-27. <http://books.google.com/books?id=Lf07LzbZq4QC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=topknot+korea&sig=L6S-vogelcRA0DBrR3WmilXl_T4>. In the text the author mentions that the top knot was cut from the grandfather. This chapter in Kim’s book traces the history of the top knot. It describes the significance of the top knot hairstyle in Korean traditions, as well as the implication of cutting the top knot. 19) BabyNamesWorld.com. 02 October 2006. <http://www.babynamesworld.com/>. In the first chapter of the text, the author mentions that Sookan’s brothers’ names had specific meanings that all related to Spring. Have the students discover why they were given the name they have, and have them look up the meaning of their name. They could write an essay connecting all this information. 20) Respecting Elders: Grandparent Essay In the text, Sookan says that she tried to remember all the things her grandfather taught her. Also, in general, Korean culture advocates respecting elders. Have the students talk to their grandparents (where possible) and write a paper telling about lessons they learn from their grandparents. If they cannot talk to a grandparent, have the student write a paper about what they imagine their grandparents would want them to know/learn. After Connections 1) Wiseman, Hadas, et al. “Parental Communication of Holocaust Experiences and Interpersonal Patterns in Offspring of Holocaust Survivors.” International Journal of Behavioral Development. 01 July 2002: 371 - 381. <http://jbd.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/4/371>. The experiences of Sookan and her family may be better understood by referencing the terrible suffering of the Holocaust. This article describes some of the after effects of the children of survivors. 2) Ten Boom, Corrie and John Scherrill. The Hiding Place. New York: Bantam, 1984. Introduce the book The Hiding Place and encourage students to read as follow up. The Ten Booms were not of the same faith as many of the people they were imprisoned with, like Sookan and her mother. Corrie and her sister Betsie were also treated brutally, but somehow they managed to show love and forgiveness to their oppressors. This site gives more history about the family. http://www.corrietenboom.com/history.htm 3) Dudden, Alex. Japan's Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power. University of Hawaii Press, Hawaii: 2005. http://books.google.com/books?id=wisqvipZ2bcC&dq=japanese+colonization+in+korea. Dudden makes it clear in this book that even before its influence on Korea it tried to adjust its laws and make legislation to improve their portrayal of Japanese colonization in the eyes of the rest of the world. 4) Fenkl, Heinz Insu. “Korean Folktales.” The Korea Society. 09 October 2006. http://www.geocities.com/ifenkl/koreanfolktales.html. The site offers links to many Korean fables including stories and essays, as well as links to stories and essays on other sites. 5) Wood, Linda, and Judi Scott. “What Did You Do in the War, Grandma?” Brown University’s Scholarly Technology Group. 1997. http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html. Students may be especially interested in this because it was compiled by high school students like themselves. The site is primarily a collection of interviews of local women who share their stories of being a women at home in World War II. 6) Chiu, Simon S. “Reorienting the English Classroom: Asian American Writers in the Canon.” English Journal. 1997: 30-33. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/view/00138274/ap030804/03a00100/0 The amount of Asian Americans in the United States is increasing rapidly, and in less than 50 years Asian Americans will make up more than ten percent of the population. Yet, there are hardly any Asian authors included in school literature lists. Chiu discusses the need for the canon to include Asian authors in addition to the now often represented African American authors. 7) Sopyonje, 1993. http://www.beyondhollywood.com/reviews/sopyonje.htm. The movie is about a Korean man named Youbong in the two decades following the 1940s, which is when the book is set. There are several flashbacks to 1940 Korea that show Korea just coming out of Japanese colonization that may be appropriate to show the class. 8) Oliver, Robert T. “A Brief for Korea.” Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 294. Pp. 33-41. http://wf2la1.webfeat.org. This article describes the action on the 38th parallel in the late 1940s and early 1950s as well as outlining effects that it has on relations today between the United States and North and South Korea, along the 38th parallel. 9) Schrecker, Ellen. “Blacklists and Other Academic Sanctions.” The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: St. Martin's Press, 1994. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/mccarthy/schrecker5.htm. The novel ends in the 1950s with the effects of Communism being felt in Asia. Communism also affected the United States. This article describes the era of McCarthyism—black lists, naming names, the Hollywood Ten, etc.