In Dia's Story Cloth: The Hmong People's Journey of Freedom the journey of the Hmong people from China, to Laos, to Thailand refugee camps and then freedom through relocation once again is chronicled in a story cloth. The cloth and its individual pictures is a journey a people take over centuries in order to find freedom in a world that was was marred by instability, war and political uncertainty.
Looking at the readability lexile, the language used in Dia's Story Cloth is at an upper elementary level. I say this because throughout the book there are complex long sentences with commas and long words or uncommon words such as: “qualified”, “communists” and “refugees”. Cognitively, I would also place the text in the upper elementary level. The plot of the book is centered around an abstract problem like war and relocating, chronological events in the Hmong history, the cultural understanding of a people and their journey toward freedom. Socially, the text aligned with the middle elementary level because to appreciate the book you have to understand others’ point of view and the concept of right and wrong (the oppressed and the oppressors). Students must be able to understand the hardships of the Hmong to appreciate the text.
When examining the characteristics of high quality literature, the characters face problems that are believable in that their world is unstable. Although it is a large concept, we still often hear about people and cultures being oppressed today. Their survival and ability to retain their culture through the hardships of war and oppressive cultures may be interesting to readers. Even though they probably aren't being oppressed personally, if they have a television or hear the news, they are surely familiar with others' right and culture being hindered.
Similarly, the main character is Dia Cha and her hardships and journey in becoming an American citizen may not be relatable to many children, but to the culturally diverse her story may resonate more. Regardless, her family’s story of trying to find a place to belong is amazing and inspiring to middle elementary readers because many of them are trying to find where they may fit in the world also, however on in individual and much smaller scale. It also reflects how we take freedoms for granted in the U.S. when the Cha family and so many other Hmong had to work so hard just to find a place to go.
Dia Cha's problems are solved politically through the U.S. government. Although most children aren’t thinking politically at a middle elementally level, it is a good seed to plant in their heads. Through the Hmong people's political and social unrest the text shows that Asia was once a more volatile and less peaceful place than it is now. Often students hear the Americanized version of the Vietnam War and this is a story told from a culture that lived where the war was being fought and struggled to adapt during and after the war.
In this narrative of the Vietnam War, the themes I saw were: family, survival and cultural preservation through the story cloth. In this regard, the main higher thought process I see deployed is evaluating the story cloth and the words that go with it. I think the story is pretty straightforward in its explanation of the Hmong people’s journey and survival.
While examining the text I found no negative stereotypes. The family roles are traditional, but this takes place in the 60’s and 70’s and on a often traditional continent. When looking at the text as a whole and interpreting it as an elementary school student may see it, I believe the text motivates and inspires young readers. Through words and pictures it tells the story behind the Hmong culture and the hardships they had to endure to find a new home.
The literary elements I found most represented in the text were a person vs. society, setting as a historical background and the theme of survival. Person vs. society was shown through the Hmong people's involvement in the Vietnam War and their struggles to find a new home and sense of normalcy. Within this situation, the setting was historically based because they are documenting actual events and how it effected cultures, specifically the Hmong and Dia Cha's family. Through these events, the theme of survival was shown as the Hmong had to move from village to village to avoid capture, bombings, communist soldiers, nature (especially a dangerous crossing at the Mekong River), refugee camps and finally surviving in a new country after being relocated.
The illustrations in the text are picture snippets of the story cloth. They show individual parts of the Hmong people’s journey. Using cloth as a medium is very unique and a style I haven't seen before. In these cloth illustrations, not everything is shown to scale, but it is from the eyes of someone who saw the events they are described. This first person document to history and a people's journey should not be bound to artistic perfection.
One idea I had for a minilesson was to allow students to share where their ancestors came from, how they got here and any parts of their culture they still retain, much like Dia Cha’s family’s story cloth. We all come from somewhere and our journeys are different but we are all trying to find a place to peacefully exist. This could be like a cultural show and tell.
One idea I had for a minilesson was to allow students to share where their ancestors came from, how they got here and any parts of their culture they still retain, much like Dia Cha’s family’s story cloth. We all come from somewhere and our journeys are different but we are all trying to find a place to peacefully exist. This could be like a cultural show and tell.
I really like your idea for the mini-lesson- ancestry is a really neat concept to talk about in the classroom and gets students to think about where they came from and how their family has changed in the past years. Our past is part of our future and I believe it is important for us to realize this and help students to find their future with knowledge of their past. However, as we discussed in class last time, it is important also to be sensitive to those students who may not want to talk about their past or who may be here illegally. Being sensitive and careful about drudging up past family history is a skill as teachers we must practice and learn.
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