1. “The Cultural Revolution”
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, GET YOUR SOURCEBOOKS READY: 1) Journal 2) Vocabulary 3) Background Information 4) “Red Scarf Girl” 5) Questions
“The Cultural Revolution”

2. Mini-Lesson
Journal: If someone you love committed a crime, would you turn them in?
Why or why not?

3. Using the definitions on the right side, match up the word to the definition from your book.
Benefactor
Palled
Denotation
Connotation
Harrowing
Ancestral
Obscured
Laconically
Adversaries
Glutinous
Dangerous; intense
The way a word is defined in the dictionary
Using few words
Negative or positive association of a word
Someone who gives aid
Gluey; sticky
Relating to former generations
Bored; dulled
Made dim or indistinct
Opponents or enemies

4. Vocabulary wield- to hold and use
obstinate- stubborn; refusing to change
luster- shine
condemn- complete disapproval of
dowry- the money, property, or belongings a woman’s family gives to the man she marries.

5. The Cultural Revolution
A time period when Mao
Zedong decided everybody
in China should do away
with their old ideas,
customs, and traditions and
should follow his beliefs.
He brainwashed the people
of China. Millions of people
died of starvation. He killed
more people than Hitler.

6. Ji Li Jiang Born 1954 When she was 12, she supported Mao’s ideas to
“Destroy the Four Olds”.
old ideas
old cultures
old customs
old habits

7. Shanghai

8. Sunday Morning Shanghai What was inside the trunks?
- Grandma’s dowry from when she got married.
Why dye the trunks black?
-If they get caught with Grandma’s keepsakes, they might get arrested or killed!
Shanghai

11. If they give the gowns to the Red Guards, they will burn them, and they will get caught for not turning them in on time.

12. Ji Li’s grandfather was a landowner.
Owning land was considered the worst crime you could commit in Communist China under Mao’s rule.

13. A few days later
Teacher Hou pulled her out of math class and escorted her to the office where some people wanted to have a “study session” with her.

14. The Meeting
Chairman Jin Teacher “Thin Face” Woman (Principal) Zhang from theater

15. “Your father was a member of the Anti-rightist Movement!”

16. “We won’t tolerate this. We have decided to make an example out of him

17. “We are going to have a struggle meeting of the entire theater system to criticize him and force him to confess!”

18. “He will stand on a stage to be publically humiliated.”

19. “If you want to prove you are truly Chairman Mao’s child, you must testify against your father.”

20. Decision OR
Follow your father and become an enemy.
Follow Mao....

21. “If you follow your father, we will come back and have many more “study sessions” with you! We will have “study sessions” with your brother and sister too!

22. “We will come back shortly to get your statement!”

23. Narrow Passageway

24. Comprehension Questions
1. What were the “Four Olds”?
2. Why did Chairman Mao want the “Four Olds” to be
destroyed?
3. Why did the Jiang family turn silk dresses into mops/
bed spreads and paint the family trunks black?
4. What are they going to do to Ji Li’s father?
5. What might happen to Ji Li if she supports her father’s
innocence?