Jump to content

Menu

Literature/media resources for a study of India/China for high school (crosspost)


Recommended Posts

We will be studying India and China coming up. My kids are in high school and we are (gasp) doing a world history survey course using a textbook as a spine.

 

I would like some enrichment materials for India and China. I am not looking for dense reading material. I am looking for:

 

  • Nonfiction stories (like Red Scarf girl for China) or even historical fiction
  • Suggestions on which parts of Hindu Scriptures to read (the story portions, not the religious teachings) ; suggested versions would be helpful
  • A good biography of Mao Zedong (didn't like Marrin's). Most are thick and written for adults. I'd like one at something like the level of Landmark books both in ease of reading and accuracy of content (I WISH they still published those!)
  • Suggestions for DVDs either *interesting* documentaries or just movies that focus on historical events in either country.
  • Any other suggestions you have for enrichment

 

 

Thanks for your help!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I can help with China. Red Scarf Girl is good for younger kids. I think of it as a middle school book more than high school. But there are many, many other Cultural Revolution memoirs out there. A Generation Lost and Life and Death in Shanghai are two that I liked, but there are many more. Wild Swans is another popular one that covers several generations, so it reaches farther back in time. There's some minor controversy attached to this one as the author assumes the voices of her mother and grandmother in a way, but it's not a huge deal. Another option is The Dragon's Village, which is about the Great Leap Forward instead of the Cultural Revolution - an earlier movement. Also, reaching even farther back, the book A Daughter of Han is an excellent look at late 1800's, early 1900's China - it's an oral history that was recorded in the 1930's, I believe. Everything I've named is stuff I would consider readable and enjoyable as supplemental reading for an interested high schooler.

 

There are other good nonfiction resources for China - there's a great coffee table book by Jonathan Spence called The Chinese Century that has an excellent collection of photographs and a nice, concise text. Spence has other good books too - I especially like God's Chinese Son. There are others by other authors... However, the memoir options are so rich that if I had to choose, I would stick with those.

 

I would also want to watch films. The Last Emperor is an obvious pick. However, there are some excellent Chinese films. The Blue Kite is a good choice, but there are many others and I'm not totally up on all of them. I know there's one about the Opium War and another about the Taiping Rebellion that are supposed to be excellent, but I haven't seen either of them.

 

Oh, and a Mao biography. The Jonathan Spence one is short and quick. I don't love it, but if that's a requirement for you, I'd probably go with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I can help with China. Red Scarf Girl is good for younger kids. I think of it as a middle school book more than high school. But there are many, many other Cultural Revolution memoirs out there. A Generation Lost and Life and Death in Shanghai are two that I liked, but there are many more. Wild Swans is another popular one that covers several generations, so it reaches farther back in time. There's some minor controversy attached to this one as the author assumes the voices of her mother and grandmother in a way, but it's not a huge deal. Another option is The Dragon's Village, which is about the Great Leap Forward instead of the Cultural Revolution - an earlier movement. Also, reaching even farther back, the book A Daughter of Han is an excellent look at late 1800's, early 1900's China - it's an oral history that was recorded in the 1930's, I believe. Everything I've named is stuff I would consider readable and enjoyable as supplemental reading for an interested high schooler.

 

There are other good nonfiction resources for China - there's a great coffee table book by Jonathan Spence called The Chinese Century that has an excellent collection of photographs and a nice, concise text. Spence has other good books too - I especially like God's Chinese Son. There are others by other authors... However, the memoir options are so rich that if I had to choose, I would stick with those.

 

I would also want to watch films. The Last Emperor is an obvious pick. However, there are some excellent Chinese films. The Blue Kite is a good choice, but there are many others and I'm not totally up on all of them. I know there's one about the Opium War and another about the Taiping Rebellion that are supposed to be excellent, but I haven't seen either of them.

 

Oh, and a Mao biography. The Jonathan Spence one is short and quick. I don't love it, but if that's a requirement for you, I'd probably go with that.

 

 

Thanks so much for all the recommendations! (And I don't mind middle-school reading for high school. If it's enrichment, it can still do the job very nicely!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have some ideas for China in my Amazon list. More detailed selections are in the sidebar of my blog (address in siggy). The Rise of Modern China might be useful as an alternative to a Mao biography. It's rather slim but did the job.

 

Laura

 

 

Laura, thank you so much! What a great list to choose from. (I hope that our local library has some of these! Have you actually seen the Rise of Modern China yourself?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Laura, thank you so much! What a great list to choose from. (I hope that our local library has some of these! Have you actually seen the Rise of Modern China yourself?

 

 

I own that one too. It's good - succinct and decently written. I used it for a spine for an honors 8th grade class on modern China.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Laura, thank you so much! What a great list to choose from. (I hope that our local library has some of these! Have you actually seen the Rise of Modern China yourself?

 

Yes: it's a slim description of the 20th century. As far as I remember, it's roughly decade-by-decade in each double page spread, so you'll have two pages on the Great Leap Forward, two pages on The Cultural Revolution, etc. So it's slim, but it's pretty well done, I think.

 

Laura

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...