Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 4, Post B

Dear Miss Lily,
Was it really strange to have a servant, Yongang, following you around after you were married? How did her presence make you feel? Did you feel like you were of a completely different social class or did you think of her more as an acquaintance? At first it would be nice to have someone following me around, but after awhile I would get annoyed at that person because they would be with me all of the time and I like to do things on my own once in awhile too. I find it fascinating that when you arrived at Snow Flower’s house, you didn’t even have to knock to announce your arrival, you simply walked in. This is a strange idea to me because here in my city, the doors of houses are always locked and we have to ring a doorbell, or there are houses that have security systems that attempt to ward off intruders. This unique custom symbolizes that there is a more trusting and welcoming air about China, especially the city of Tongkou. How did you feel once you realized Snow Flower had lied to you about her house? Do you think Snow Flower was ashamed of telling you about her imperfect life and chose to make up lies about it instead? If this ever happened to me, I would at first be absolutely enraged at the person for lying to me, because I would rather hear the bad truth than the good lie. However, if I were to have a close relationship with the person, like you and Snow Flower do, I would begin to feel sorry for them for having to feel like they needed to live up to certain standards to please me. I don’t care how people live, or how rich they are, I just want to know that I have a friend who accepts themselves and me.
Sincerely, Rachel

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 3, Post B

Dear Miss Lily,
I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your cousin, Beautiful Moon. Her death was so sudden and shocking that it is difficult for anyone to grasp what happened in just a few short minutes. I hope you have some comfort in knowing that she passed quietly and quickly. Not only am I surprised at how you handled yourself at her death, but I am absolutely shocked how your aunt was able to remain composed and never shed a tear during in front of you during your mourning. Snow Flower’s willingness to help during this time of loss seemed so helpful and reassuring to you and your family. On a lighter note, I am curious as to what you define the Yao nationality as, because I have learned a lot about different cultures and religions this year in my history class. I also found your quote “There is no life without death,” (99) really interesting because it is such a perplexing statement. I like it because it conveys the idea that no one will live forever, which makes our time alive that much more special. I also would like to congratulate you on your recent wedding! I can’t believe that you were able to go ten days without eating a substantial amount of food, I barely went seven hours without eating today and I was really hungry already! Your husband and new family seem so welcoming, I hope you share many wonderful memories together.
Sincerely,
Rachel

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 3, Post A

“We may be worthless. We may be raised for another family. But often we are loved and cherished, despite our natal families’ best efforts not to have feelings for us” (96). In Chinese society, the women are thought of as useless, because they are burdens to their birth family and later, their husband’s family. This contrasts greatly to American society, where male and females are thought of equally. It is difficult to imagine how girls must have felt in China, because the only value they have to society is bearing male children. In addition, it would be disheartening to find out that you were to be shifted from one family to another and that their feelings for you would only come out on rare occasions.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 2, Post B

Dear Miss Lily,
I just recently started reading a novel about your life growing up in China and I love it! At first, I didn’t think your relationship with Snow Flower was that strong, it seemed like you idolized her much more than she liked you. You always seemed to follow in her footsteps and waited for her to make the first judgment, “Thankfully Snow Flower took charge again” (52). Were you intimidated by Snow Flower? Were you ever jealous of her education? It seemed to me that Snow Flower always took control of you and guided you to believe and want the same things you did, which really bothered me because she seemed like such a control freak! Did you ever feel you were being completely overpowered by her? Were you bothered that you always had to be the first one to give an act of hospitality, after all you always had to initiate sending gifts and letters, and even welcoming her into your own house? This quote that you said really intrigued me, “...It didn’t disturb me, because I knew I didn’t deserve Snow Flower’s affections” (66). This is really hard for me to imagine someone saying this, because here in America it doesn’t really matter the class difference between you and your friend. But more importantly, I feel that in any kind of relationship, both people have to give the same amount of effort into it! It’s not fair if you feel you aren’t worthy of Snow Flower’s love, if it’s a true relationship you would both give each other the same amount of love. As the chapters went on, I came to enjoy both you and Snow Flower a lot, even though I found your relationship hard to understand at first.
Sincerely,
Rachel

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 2, Post A

“My talking always gets me in trouble because I often don’t think before I speak, while you will be an ideal wife, always choosing your words with great care” (49). This line was spoken by Snow Flower, Lily’s “laotong”, to Lily. A “laotong” means “same-old” and the two girls basically had an arranged friendship that is extremely strong. Snow Flower is aware of her excessive talking and how that will probably lead her into problems in the future, especially with men. It is obvious through Snow Flower’s speech that in Chinese society, a man values a wife who is quiet and subordinate to him. This is really interesting because in American society, it isn’t absolutely necessary for a woman to marry a man and if there is a marriage, the roles of men and women in a family are fairly equal.

World Issue- Pollution in China

For my world issue, I chose to research pollution in China.

Here are some links to articles:

"Beijing's Olympic Quest: Turn Smoggy Sky Blue" from The New York Times, on SIRS
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-1924&artno=0000271241&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Beijing%27s%20Olympic%20Quest%3A%20Turn%20Smoggy%20Sky%20Blue&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y

"In China's Toxic Air, Winds of Change" from The Chicago Tribune, on SIRS
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-1924&artno=0000259443&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=In%20China%27s%20Toxic%20Air%2C%20Winds%20of%20Change&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y

"China's Pollution Cuts Local Rain" from BBC News Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6441503.stm

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Week 1, Post B

Dear Ms. Lisa See,
I just started reading your novel, “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” and it is absolutely enthralling! I literally cannot put it down, and it was really hard to force myself to stop so I could blog about it. Your writing style really captivates me, I love the details you put into each character yet there are not so many as to clutter the characters identities. I am curious as to why you don’t use the first names of the family members? Is it part of the Chinese culture to call your siblings by birth order? I am also wondering if you chose the names of the characters, like Lily and Snow Flower, because you enjoy flowers or if that too is also part of the Chinese culture? One of the smaller details I noticed was the way you dated Lily’s birth date, “the fifth day of the six month of the third year of Emperor Daoguang’s reign” (9). It reminded me of a novel I’m reading in school, “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, because she too dated events in the year of the dictator Trujillo’s rule in the Dominican Republic. Anyways, you can really pull the reader’s heart strings and I think that is an excellent trait for an author to have. I felt absolutely horrible for Lily when her feet were bound, even though she was rather old at just seven years of age. When you described the situation through Lily’s eyes it made it even worse, “The freshly created space where once there had been a joint was now a gelatinous infinity of torture” (30). That quote made me realize just how horrifying that experience must have been for Lily, and millions of other young girls. Why did you decide to write a novel about a young Chinese girl? Did you apply characteristics of yourself into Lily? I cannot wait to read more of the novel and find out what happens to her and her family, hopefully their future is filled with happy events!
Sincerely, Rachel