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Multicultural/Global/Diverse Literature



          Part One

             Park, Linda Sue. When My Name Was Keoko. Recorded Books, 2003.

             Suggested Grade Levels: 4-7

             Genre: Fiction

            Part Two
                 My prediction before reading this book was that it was going to be a story about a child and her family living life and embracing their Korean culture. In no way did I think this was going to be a book about the tragedies of World War II for the Koreans. Especially considering this a book for grade levels 4-7. Overall I enjoyed reading this book. I believe it gave an accurate background about WWII and the struggles Koreans faced with the discrimination the Japanese had towards them. 

There was one section in the book where Sun-Hee was writing in her journal and wrote, "You silence the words, but not the thoughts." This situation reminds of the Diary of Anne Frank and the Holocaust and how we were fortunate enough to hear about her through the Diary that her father published after the war. And her father lived to tell the story through his thoughts. With both of these situations, there is always going to be someone who lives to tell the story and their point of view and thoughts. I think that was what Sun-Hee was trying to tell the soldiers, that thoughts can never be silenced. 
As prompts for students reading this book, I would have them take into consideration what other events in history this books reminds them of. There have been speculations that this book reminds other of 9/11, or the Holocaust. 

        Part Three
      
      I believe that if I was reading this book for the first time and didn't know what genre it was, I would have thought it was a Non-fiction. The events that took place in the book and other characteristics such as the use of Korean names, the setting, gender roles, family traditions, and cultural beliefs, all represented an authentic life of a Korean family.

        Part Four
        Lesson Objective:

        Using the events found in When My Name Was Keoko, Students will create a timeline using selected, significant events that happened in the book by the end of the week.

         Lesson Activity:

      Students and a partner will create a timeline of 5 events they found to be significant in the book. 


         Discussion Questions:

         1. Which characters showed courage in this book?
        
       2. Considering that the book is told from different narrators such a Tae-Yul and Sun-Hee, do you think it gave readers a better perspective about male and female roles in Korean society?
         3. Which character most likely represented you and why?


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