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  ;

After being µhonourably discharged¶ from the Beijing Red Star Garment Factory, Granny
Lin sets out on a journey. Her life improves.

When composing your response to this statement, consider such things as material
possessions, standard of accommodation, emotional richness, strength of character,
Granny Lin¶s impact on those she meets, worldliness and her moral standards.

 

   include«truth, deception, responsibility, change,

capitalism/consumerism, survival, culture, tradition, hypocrisy, honour, love, honesty,
companionship, youth vs age, good intentions/bad outcomes, communism, corruption,
nepotism

 ! " SOME SUGGESTIONS. Ideas, her perspective, her

µangle¶, her assertions for consideration; What#$%&$ are raised when the
characters in µExtra¶ collide? What HAPPENS to Granny Lyn¶s life, in what ways does it
change when she encounters each of these characters below?

What   does Li present about these themes or issues ± what¶s she saying about them?
What¶s the main contention in the story? (Li¶s position or viewpoint)

Granny Lin¶s plight opens her ideas and her heart, places her in peril, exposes her to the
different (needy) people and communities (like herself). Is the whole country needy?

Old Tang¶s family exposes both responsible but uncaring, reflect changing
society«juxtapose old with new. Can we see the benefits of the old regime and the new?
Old and new economic society?

Aunty Wang highlights a community desperate to survive, and it highlights the

society/regime that dictates their lives ± emphasises changing society, changing traditions
and how they µmeet¶ or collide with the new

'( "; vulnerable, left behind, discarded, not valued?

"" shallow, obsessed with µstuff¶, parallel with µThe State?


= )Unloved, isolated, µBarren¶.

The past, what¶s happening to society in new economy, urbanisation, dislocation,

commercialism, capitalism

Empathy, compassion

")progress, opportunity,changes, represent what you have to do to

survive«matchmakers an OLD custom, but she uses it to adapt in the new economics.

Canny, shrewd, manipulative OR a survivor, helpful, a good friend

Aunty Wang ± what does Aunty Wang do for Granny Lin; does she µsave¶ her? Does
Aunty Wang represent µsurvival¶, being canny/shrewd, staying abreast of change.

'( " ± Old Vulnerable, an µextra¶, the innocent µvictim¶, the pastA new life of
intimacy (Old Tang), luxury (TV, bath). Leads to Kang.µA shooting star¶.

'( "*#( ± sees that they are happy to pay for someone to care for their father
rather than care for him themselves ± disposable income?

+"± another victim?

What does Granny Lin want?

What happens to Granny Lin next?

Given the time, the culture and the politics of the country, what can Granny Lin expect?

 #

(,refers to what?

&&,

Granny Lin, Aunty Wang, Old Tang, Old Tang¶s family, Kang

":  ± Beijing

  ± post Mao, change from communist rule to a more capitalist
culture

-'.; 3rd person

&/; irony, proverbs, symbolism, metaphor

+"%: not so important in this story since there¶s no use of #&

the audience, and perhaps one member of the µcast¶, knows something about
present or future circumstances that the character does not know. Dramatic Irony EG
# 0( by William Shakespeare. When Romeo finds Juliet in a drugged
sleep, he assumes her to be dead and kills himself. Upon awakening to find her dead
lover beside her, Juliet then kills herself.(an outcome that turns out to
be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to
happen and what actually does

""$(,(( 1Direct, few literary devices. No description. It¶s the

story itself rather than the µartifice.¶ Show don¶t tell«you had to search for the meaning,
you were not told. ( *(  %1*(
%(&=2#&#%«you must decide for yourself? Matter of fact,
not obvious emotion, readers to µadd¶ meaning and emotion. EG; why is Granny Lin so
without awareness of how others perceive her? Why is she so compliant?

*; socks, cheeks, lunch pail, lies vs truth

#!" 

What is good about this story?

Do you feel you know the characters? Do you #% with Granny Lin, Old Tang,
Yang, Aunty Wang? Are you concerned about their fate? Do you find yourself thinking
about them?

*3 &", Highs and lows of Granny Lin¶s life, against an inferred
socio-economic change. µThe specific examined to convey the universal.¶ (change, older
generation etc)