Historical Connections with The Executioner's Daughter

The first historical connection I noticed were those relations to medicine in The Executioner's Daughter. The Executioner and his family used medieval medicines. They performed bloodletting to take out all the bad blood from Alyce, The executioner's wife. They also use herbs to make poultices and drinks to heal patients. Then, I also noticed how important the church was. When a women stole some candles from the church, the resulting punishment was a hanging! And they were only candles! I also noticed that the punishments were very barbaric at the time., as described in my History textbook. For example, the executioner had to cut off somebody's hand with a scythe when he stole something from the market. These are the most important historical connections that I can make.

Passage from The Executioner's Daughter

I thought the following passage was significant to the story:
'Gritting her teeth, Lily pulled a stone out of the sack she had tied around her waist. "Please go," she begged. Then she shouted, "Go! Leave!" The fox jumped away from her. Lily threw the rock and then another and again and again and again until her sack was empty and the bushy tail of the fox was nowhere to be seen.'
I think this passage is important because it shows that Lily loved the fox enough to do the best for it, even if it meant getting the fox to hate her. This action is used later in the story, for more important reason. However, in the end, it shows that people will go to many lengths to do the best for those they love.

Main Character of The Executioner's Daughter

The main character for The Executioner's Daughter is Lily, who the townspeople call Gallows Girl or Lily White As Bones. This is because of her father's occupation as the executioner. Lily generally despises the townsfolk, thinking of them as cruel and taunting. However, Lily does have a kind and gentle heart. She saves the injured animals in the forest, and with her parents' help, she heals them. Lily also looks much like her mother-pale, and blonde hair, but has her father's large hands. Lily doesn't cherish this particular feature, as her hands are often clumsy. In fact, she actually wants to be like her mother, who has a soft touch. According to Lily, her mother could probably pull thorns from a unicorn's muzzle and not scare it away. Nonetheless, Lily is still an accomplished healer, and bore the cruelty of the townspeople bravely. I'd love to be able to do those things.

Setting for The Executioner's Daughter

The setting for the Executioner's Daughter by Laura E. Williams has an interesting, albeit commonly used setting. It is during the Middle Ages, at around 1450. Most of the story is in a house set apart from a medieval town and also a forest. The house where Lily (our main character) has one room, with a small kitchen area, a dining table, a bed, a corner set for Lily, and a place for her father's tools. They also had an apothecary, where they mixed herbs to help heal people. The forest was used to get herbs, but it was also Lily's favorite place to be, and it is mentioned throughout the story. I'm not sure id the town is a major part of the story yet, but it is mentioned once of twice, and Lily does not seem to like the town very much. So far that is all there is to the setting of The Executioner's Daughter,

Chapter 11- So Far From the Bamboo Grove

A major theme that I notice in So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins was that most people tend to go out of their way to help others, even people that they don't really know. For example, Yoko and her family helped that pregnant woman on the train to Seoul. Thet gave her food and water, and Yoko even shared her blanket with the woman. I don't think they even knew that lady's name! Then, shortly after Yoko's and Ko's mother dies, a woman by the name of Mrs. Masuda help them with the burial process as well as offer them living quarters in her family's empty warehouse. Even though Yoko and her family could have saved their food, or Mrs. Masuda, could have ignored them, they chose to be kind and lend a helping a hand.

Amnesty International

As I read the Case Study: Iraq, I felt really bad. I was leading such amazing, pleasurable life compared to those refugees and imigrants! I wanted to help the Iraqi people in Syria and Jordan, where they were saying that supplies weren't enough. I also got rather horrific images from my rather imaginative brain about those peoplle who needed urgent medical care, or were torture survivors. However, my imagination is not broad enough, I couldn't possibly feel the terror and tension these people felt during this time. I could only hope that the US, Uk, and all other states contacted were doing their best to help.

Theme of Red Scarf Girl

I think that the theme of Red Scarf Girl is that no matter what people think of you, you should stand up for what you think is right, and no matter what, and that no matter how horrible life may be, one can still love and hope. The book consistently shows examples of these. For instance, one time, when Ji-Li went to change her name so that she and her family wouldn't be persecuted. However, when she found out that changing her name would mean making a clean break with her family, she ran away from the Red Guard. Obviously, she would rather be tortured than stay away and not protect her family. The story also hints that though sometimes she hated her landlord family, no matter what, she still loved them very much.