Common Core Standards Concept: POV & Narration Primary Subject Area: English Secondary Subject Areas: History Common Core Standards Addressed: Grades 9-10 Key Ideas and Details Grades 11-12 Key Ideas and Details o Evaluate the speaker s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted logic. o Evaluate the speaker s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted logic. Another Bullet Heading o Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a theme from Shakespeare). The Buddha in the Attic: Common Core Standards 1
Lesson Plan Overview: Materials: This class will discuss the historical framework of the novel, specifically picture brides in the early 20th century. In addition, this class discusses point of view and narration, in particular the author s use of first person plural, or collective voice. Objectives: Students will be able to: o Discuss the phenomenon of picture-brides in early 20th century United States Identify how the use of collective voice reflects the different experiences of picture brides Compare and contrast the wives different experiences with their husbands. o Hypothesize why Julie Otsuka uses collective voice. Computer Projector Copy of The Buddha in the Attic Other Resources: Video clip Key vocabulary Important references from the text Warm-Up Activity: Ask students to hypothesize what the term picture bride means. After hypothesizing, define the term picture bride: Practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers in the United States selecting brides from their native countries via a matchmaker, who paired brides and grooms through photos and family recommendations. Have Students watch the following clip. Have students identify portions that echo the women s experiences from the text. Video: https://www.aol.com/video/japanese-picturebride-phenomena-in-central-valley/300995146 The Buddha in the Attic: Lesson Plan 2
Lesson Plan Warm-Up Activity (cont.): o Points of comparison between the video and The Buddha in the Attic: o Women s arrival and first nights (pg. 19-21) o False representation (pg. 18) o Women forced into manual labor (pg. 23-25) o Regrets about marriage (pg 31-33) Ask students to compare the women s expectations prior to arriving in the United States and after meeting their husbands. The Buddha in the Attic: Lesson Plan 3
Lesson Plan Short Lecture & Partner Activities: Students should read the first paragraph of Come, Japanese! and identify the narrative voice (first person plural or collective voice ). The first two sentences suggest uniformity among the women on the boat, but the first paragraph reveals great diversity. Based on the first paragraph, how are the picture brides similar? How are they different? How does using first person plural help highlight the women s similarities and differences? Discussion topics: Discuss Chapter 2, First Nights. What does the short, but powerful, chapter reveal about the women s experiences? Read aloud: They took us swiftly, repeatedly, and all through the night, and in the morning when we woke we were theirs. What is your reaction to this quotation? What do the women mean by when we woke we were theirs? Ask students to split into pairs, and find contrasting sentiments (one positive and one negative) from the women s first nights. In groups of three or four, ask students to explore chapter 3, Whites, specifically the complex relationships between the wives and their husbands. Ask students to find passages that reflect the husbands kindness and compassion in the early days. Also find passages or excerpts that reveal the wives reactions to this kindness. Have the class share the passages they selected with the class. Ask students to explain why the author chooses such stark comparisons. Ask students to hypothesize why Otsuka uses collective voice throughout the novel. What effect does the use of first person plural have in the novel? How does the collective voice (or first person plural) differ from first person singular? How does it differ from a novel written in third person? Why does the author italicize some phrases? Is the italicization important to the story? Do you like Otsuka s use of collective voice? The Buddha in the Attic: Lesson Plan 4
Lesson Plan Wrap-Up Activity: What are other moments in history when immigrants were treated unequally? Is there an opportunity for their stories to be told in collective voice? Why or why not? Do you think collective voice could tell the stories of people today? Name groups of people today whose stories could be told through this narrative voice. The Buddha in the Attic: Lesson Plan 5
Lesson Plan Writing Activities/Evaluations: Analytical: In a thoughtful, 7-10 sentence paragraph, provide explanations for the migration of Japanese women, or picture brides, to the United States in the early 20th century. Why did so many women want to immigrate to the U.S.? Did the women have prospects in Japan? What did the Japanese women think of American life prior to their arrival and after? Creative: Using Otsuka s first chapter as inspiration, write a 10-12 sentence paragraph as an immigrant traveling to a foreign country. What emotions would you feel on your journey? What hopes would you have for your new life? What questions would you ask? The Buddha in the Attic: Lesson Plan 6
Discussion & Comprehension Questions Discussion Questions: o How does Otsuka show the risk the women are taking when they get married? How does she justify that risk? Do you think it s worthwhile? o How do the husbands meet or fail to meet the women s expectations? o What do the women mean at the end of the second chapter when they say, when we woke we were theirs? o How does Otsuka differentiate one individual bride s voice from another and from the predominant collective voice throughout the novel? Does she do this successfully? o Do you think that the collective voice is an interesting or helpful storytelling device? Why or why not? o What are the major differences between telling a story using the collective voice and telling a story using first- or third-person narration? The Buddha in the Attic: Discussion & Comprehension Questions 7
Key Vocabulary Word: Picture Bride Kimono Unfathomable Stupor Definition: Practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers in the United States whereby brides from the worker s native country were selected via a matchmaker who paired brides and grooms using photos and family recommendations. A long, loose robe with wide sleeves and tied with a sash, originally worn for formal occasions in Japan Inability to be understood (fathomed) A condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended senses Dialect Swift Colony A regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties Happening quickly or promptly A group of people who are from the same country, region, or culture, residing in a foreign city, country, or land The Buddha in the Attic: Key Vocabulary 8
Text References (Page 3) On the boat we were mostly virgins. We had long black hair and flat wide feet and we were not very tall. Some of us had eaten nothing but rice gruel as young girls and had slightly bowed legs, and some of us were only fourteen years old and were sill young girls ourselves. Some of us came from the city, and wore stylish city clothes, but many more of us came from the country and on the boat we wore the same old kimonos we d been wearing for years faded hand- me- downs from our sisters that had been patched and redyed many times. Some of us came from the mountains, and had never before seen the sea, except for in pictures, and some of us were the daughters of fishermen who had been around the sea all our lives. Perhaps we had lost a brother or father to the sea, or a fiancé, or perhaps someone we loved had jumped into the water one unhappy morning and simply swum away, and now it was time for us too, to move on. (Page 7) But even the most reluctant of us had to admit that it was better to marry a stranger in America than grow old with a farmer from the village. Because in America the women did not have to work in the fields and there was plenty of rice and fire- wood for all. And wherever you went the men held open the doors and tipped their hats and called out, Ladies first and After you. (Page 19) That night our new husbands took us quickly. They took us calmly. They took us gently, but firmly, and without saying a word. (Page 22) They took us swiftly, repeatedly, and all throughout the night, and in the morning when we woke we were theirs. (Page 25) In the beginning we wondered about them constantly. Why did they mount their horses from the left side and not the right? How were they able to tell each other and not the right? How were they able to tell each other apart? Why were they always shouting? Did they really hang dishes on their walls and not pictures? And have locks on all their doors? And wear their shoes inside the house? Why did they talk about the late at night as they were falling asleep? What did they dream of? To whom did they pray? How many gods did they have? Was it true that they really saw a man in the moon and not a rabbit? And ate cooked beef at funerals? And drank the milk of cows? And that smell? What was it? Butter stink, our husbands explained. The Buddha in the Attic: Text References 9
The Buddha in the Attic: Supplementary Materials Chart Category of Resource Video Description of Resource Overview of the 20th century phenomenon of picture brides Potential Educational Uses of Resource Provides historical context for Julie Otsuka s novel The Buddha in the Attic Link to Resource https://www.aol.com/video/japanesepicture-bride-phenomena-in-centralvalley/300995146