Ties That Bind, Ties That Break

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Depiction of Ailin’s Traits”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of Ailin’s characterization by creating a visual representation of conflicts she experiences and her reactions to them.

Ailin’s youth, adolescence, and early adulthood are full of challenges in which her personality traits become evident. Use the text to focus on individual situations of conflict in Ailin’s life and note her reactions. Then depict these conflicts and her personality traits in an original illustration.

Gather Ideas:

• Review the story and complete a 3-column list. In the first column, list moments of conflict Ailin experiences as she grows up; in the second column, note how she responds to the conflict; in the third column, determine which personality trait(s) her reaction reveals, directly or indirectly. Include at least 6-8 conflicts and accompanying reactions and traits on your list. 

Draw:

• Create a picture that features Ailin and illustrates literally or symbolically the different conflicts in her life and how she demonstrates her personality traits in response.
• You can illustrate your ideas in a variety of ways, as long as your audience can identify the conflicts and traits clearly.

Reflect:

• When you have finished your illustration, answer the following question in a few sentences: Considering the specific conflicts and traits that you have illustrated, what is the relationship of Ailin’s traits to her overall coming-of-age?

Teaching Suggestion: Students might work in pairs or small groups to generate ideas in the 3-column chart, then move to independent workstations for the completion of the illustration. The pairs or groups might later compare how each reader used common ideas in a unique illustration. Once students have a chance to share and compare their project, they might discuss their answers to the reflection question in a Socratic seminar.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with visual learning differences may not be able to complete this activity as written. Instead, they might write a paragraph or two exploring Ailin’s personality traits as they are made clear in her conflicts. Students with aphantasia may need visual references in order to draw a picture of Ailin or they may use printed, representative images of her character.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Ailin is excited and appreciative for the chance to attend school.

• How does her education spark change in Ailin’s ideas that motivate her future decisions? (topic sentence)
• Summarize the important realizations Ailin comes to as a result of her education. Analyze and discuss how these realizations impact her future in at least 3 specific ways.
• In your concluding sentences, briefly explain how the passages regarding Ailin’s education contribute to one or more themes.

2. As Ailin grows up over the course of the story, the reader sees a contrast between Western and Eastern values.

• What is the novel’s strongest point of contrast between Western and Eastern values? (topic sentence)
• Use the example of Ailin and the Warners or other examples to discuss and analyze the ways that Ailin bridges the gap between Eastern and Western values. Use text details in at least 3 points that support your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentences, summarize the message about Cultural Misunderstandings and Conflict conveyed by Ailin’s journey.

3. Consider the relationships Ailin has with the women in her family as well as the men.

• Overall, how do her relationships with male family members differ from her relationships with women? (topic sentence)
• Analyze and discuss 3 examples from the novel that support your topic sentence. Include details and cite any direct quotations.
• In your concluding sentences, briefly describe the ways in which Ailin’s family relationships are indicative of Family Life and Social Relationships in China.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In many young adult novels, the storyline reveals a relatively brief stretch of the protagonist’s teen years. How does this book differ in style, tone, and content, in that it reveals the protagonist’s early childhood, teen years, and early adulthood? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, explore and analyze the impact this timeframe has on Ailin’s characterization. What do readers learn directly and indirectly that they may not see in a YA character with a shorter timeline? How does the coming-of-age aspect of the novel differ?

2. This story takes place in a turbulent time in Chinese history. How do social and political events contribute to the culture in which Ailin is born? How do outside events impact the tone or topic of conversations in Ailin’s household? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, explore the direct and indirect influence of outside events on Ailin’s family. Include text details and cite any direct quotations.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following phrases best describes how Ailin views Big Uncle?

A) With compassion

B) With opposition

C) With adoration

D) With intrigue

2. Which of the following trends best describes how foreign opinions most commonly influence China in the novel?

A) Through fashion

B) Through movies

C) Through music

D) Through books

3. Which word best describes the education that Ailin receives while living in her family house?

A) Explanatory

B) Thorough

C) Superficial

D) Modern

4. How do adults generally react to children’s inquiries in Ailin’s family?

A) With support

B) With discouragement

C) With tenderness

D) With apathy

5. Which of the following family members are most supportive in Ailin’s resistance to foot binding?

A) Her mother

B) Her grandmother

C) Her father

D) Her uncle

6. In Chapter 4, in one of the final conversations with Ailin before her marriage, Second Sister says, “I personally like the colored cocoons,’’ […] ‘‘but silk weavers hate them because they spoil the white uniformity. Whenever they see a colored one, they immediately take it out and burn it. Remember this.” Which of the following phrases best describes the purpose of this quote?

A) To provide a metaphor of warning for Ailin’s defiant attitude

B) To share a kernel of wisdom regarding marriage

C) To connect the importance of the silk trade and China’s economy

D) To display Second Sister’s knowledge of botany

7. Which word best describes the socioeconomic background of Ailin’s family?

A) Wealthy

B) Impoverished

C) Monarchial

D) Destitute

8. About which fact does Ailin skew the truth in order to work with the Warner family?

A) Her teaching ability

B) Her age

C) Her gender

D) Her last name

9. Which word best describes the meaning of the word “heathen” as referenced in the novel?

A) Non-Chinese

B) Uncivilized

C) Irreputable

D) Unorganized

10. In Chapter 9, Ailin reflects, “During my next two years with the Warners, I lived wholly as Eileen, and only rarely did the girl known as Ailin emerge.” Which of the following phrases best summarizes the purpose of this quotation?

A) To share her love of Western culture

B) To represent the ways that Ailin is adopting Western practices

C) To explain the importance of her Americanized name

D) To exemplify the necessity of fitting in with new employers

11. “I realized that I was like a bamboo shoot that had been outside in the air and sun. I could never again be like my sisters and other delicate Chinese girls with bound feet who spent their days in an inner chamber. I was too tough now.” (Chapter 9) Which of the following literary terms does Ailin use in her realization?

A) Allusion

B) Dramatic irony

C) Personification

D) Simile

12. Which of the following best describes what conclusion Ailin comes to about the tradition of foot binding in China?

A) That is was a sign of wealth

B) That it was a symbol of family prosperity

C) That it was seen by many as necessary for a suitable marriage

D) That it was the only way for girls to attend school

13. What realization does Ailin have about the Warners while on board the ship to America?

A) That they are not as wealthy as she originally thought

B) That they dislike her considerably

C) That they are not Christian but Jewish

D) That they support the revolution in China

14. Which word best describes how Ailin feels upon entering Chinatown in San Francisco?

A) Disgusted

B) Ashamed

C) Nostalgic

D) Apathetic

15. Which word best summarizes Ailin and James’s first years at the restaurant?

A) Toilsome

B) Abusive

C) Gentle

D) Tranquil

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the narrative style of the story? How is the narration style linked to the passage of time of the novel?

2. In Chapter 12, as a young woman, Ailin says, “I was no delicate shoot buried in the sand. I was a stalk of bamboo, strong enough to stand against wind and snow.” How do Ailin’s courage and sense of rebelliousness throughout her youth parallel the cultural changes in China that occur as she matures?