The Red Scarf Girl

1. Who are the members of Ji-Li’s family? Describe her family home. What class status does her family belong to? What is the occupation of her father? Mother?
Answer:
Ji-Li's family members: Ji-Li's father, Song-Po-Po(nanny/housekeeper:P.14), Ji-Li's mother, Ji-Yong(younger brother), Ji-yun (younger sister), Ji-Li's grandmother (went to modern university, teacher, help found Ji-Li's primary school:P.14), Little white(cat)
Ji-Li's home: bright and warm and welcoming, appartement in Shanghai, had a french window, mahogany table, high ceilings, burgandy curtains, pots on steps.(P.7) 10 times bigger room than classmates, 100 times brighter, full-sized bathroom.(P.15~16)
Family status/class: Middle class who are doing well. Not super-rich, but well-off.
Family occupation: Both parents are an actor/actress. But the now the mother retired and works in a sports equipment store.(P.13)

2. What is Ji-Li’s life at school like? What special honor is Ji-Li picked for at school? Describe Ji-Li’s parents’ reaction. What does Ji-Li do instead of entering the audition?
Answer:
Ji-Li's school life: She's the student chairman of the whole school and also was an outstanding student (P. 9). She was happy and was always respected, loved, able to excel and expected to succeed (P.1). Ji-Li math test was display as exemplary work (P.3). She was known for being good at martial arts since 2nd grade (P.5). She had a da-dui-zhang badge for student chairman of the whole school (P.9). She was correcting her little sister about her piano practice (P.29).
Special honor: She was picked to do an audition for the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy (P.6)
Parents' reaction: Her dad told her not to do the audition and he was serious about it(P.8). She also saw a pain in her dad's eyes that she had never seen before (P.9). Her dad was worried about the political background investigation (P.9). They send a note principal Long (P.10)
Instead of entering the audition: Ji-Li tried hard not to cry about not going to the audition after talking to teacher Gu and An Yi, she dogged behind a tree so Principal Long and the 2 boys wouldnt see her because she didnt want to talk to anyone right then (P.12)

3. What are the "Four Olds"? Provide some examples of each and why they need to be destroyed. What does "prosperity" mean? Why is this considered an old thought?

The four olds are old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits (p 21). Respecting teachers and saying things such as good morning or good afternoon is a four old (p 35). Destroying old signs was part of the four olds (p 21). Another four old was wearing pants wide enough so a beer bottle could fit through them (p 32). Being named after something is an old habit (p 1). 

Prosperity means to be wealthy and to be successful in life. It is considered a thought because Mao says that only rightists are very wealthy and make lots of money.

4 What is an xenophile? Why was it bad to be a xenophile in the Revolutionary China?

A xenophile is someone who loves anything foreign (p 285). It is bad to be a xenophile because it was considered to be part of the four olds to follow foreign influences.

5. What are da-zi-bao? What are being done with them? Who is Jiang Xi-wen? Why does Ji-Li hang a da-zi-bao on her house? 

Da-zi-bao are a form of propaganda in the shape of a large handwritten poster presenting and important issue (p 276).  They were used to humiliate people like Ji-Li's Aunt (Jiang Xi-wen). Jiany Xi-wen had to put the da-zi-bao on her door because she was putting on make-up, and chairman Mao said that it was wrong to put make-up (p 44).

6. Why does Ji-Li stop going to school for a while?

Ji-Li stopped going to school for a while because someone wrote a da-zi-bao about her. She was what feeling uncomfortable and she also had a fever (p 52).

7.What is a rightist? Use your own words to breifly explain the process of remolding one's ideology.

A rightist is someone in the conservative party that disagrees with the communist party. 

Remold one's ideology means to change ones belief. The process of remolding one's ideology is to forget the past and make a new idea sink into your brain.

8. What did Ji-Li's grandfather do for a living? How does this affect Ji-Li's life?

Ji-Li's grandfather was a landlord. He owned lands and received money from the farmers. This affected Ji-Li because having you or even a member of the family be a landlord was very bad and it made you a rightist.