Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin is a captivating novel that seamlessly blends Chinese folklore with a heartwarming coming-of-age story. This study guide provides a comprehensive exploration of the book, suitable for students and educators alike, delving into its themes, characters, and literary devices.
Minli gazes upon Fruitless Mountain, symbolizing the challenges and poverty her family faces.
I. Engaging with the Text: Reading Journal
To fully appreciate Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, keeping a reading journal is essential. This involves active engagement with the text through focused questions, allowing students to analyze the narrative structure and themes.
Methods of Reading:
- Independent Reading: Assign chapters for reading at home.
- In-Class Reading Groups: Facilitate collaborative reading and discussion.
- Read Aloud: The teacher reads aloud, fostering comprehension and engagement.
- Combination: Blend these methods to cater to diverse learning styles.
Understanding the Setting:
Begin by locating China on a map. Discuss students’ existing knowledge of China, its size, population, and any relevant current events. Explain that the story revolves around a young Chinese girl facing numerous obstacles.
Exploring Challenges:
Define the word “challenge” (something that requires significant effort to overcome). Present visual examples of various challenges (physical, mental, emotional) and discuss the skills and abilities needed to succeed in each scenario. Encourage students to share their own experiences with challenges.
Initial Book Exploration:
Distribute copies of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Allow students time to survey the book, examine the illustrations, and familiarize themselves with Grace Lin (utilize information from the book’s background or Al Roker’s interview with Grace Lin).
Journaling and Discussion:
Instruct students on how to maintain their reading journal, specifying the number of pages or chapters to read and the corresponding questions to answer (using Worksheet 1 from the original source). Before each reading assignment, distribute relevant questions and ensure comprehension. Suggest that male students envision a twin brother accompanying Minli to enhance relatability.
After each assignment, conduct class discussions or small group discussions to review the journal questions. Utilize the Teacher Resource: Plot Outline as a reference for suggested answers.
II. Folktales and the Frame Story: A Deeper Dive
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon masterfully incorporates folktales within its main narrative. Understanding the concept of a “frame story” is crucial to appreciating the novel’s complexity and richness.
Defining a Frame Story:
Explain that a frame story is a main narrative that contains other stories within it, much like a picture frame holding multiple photos.
Analyzing Embedded Folktales:
Provide students with Worksheet 2. Frame Stories in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and review the worksheet thoroughly. Assign individual folktales (or allow students to choose, ensuring no duplicates) from the list below:
- Chapter 1: The Story of Fruitless Mountain
- Chapter 3: The Story of the Old Man of the Moon
- Chapter 11: The Story of the Dragon
- Chapter 12: The Story of the Goldfish Man
- Chapter 15: The Story of the Secret of Happiness
- Chapter 16: The Story of the Dragon Gate Waterfall
- Chapter 18: The Story of the Buffalo Boy’s Friend
- Chapter 23: The Unknown Part of the Story of the Old Man of the Moon
- Chapter 24: The Story of the String of Destiny
- Chapter 30: The Story the Girl Told the Green Tiger
- Chapter 34: The Story of the Village of the Moon Rain
- Chapter 36: The Story of the Green Tiger and the Healing Tea
- Chapter 38: The Story of Da-A-Fu’s Ancestors
- Chapter 40: The Story of the Dragon’s Pearl
- Chapter 42: The Story of Wu Kang
The dragon, a prominent figure in Chinese folklore, represents wisdom and transformation in the story.
Worksheet Completion and Assessment:
Allow ample time for students to reread and analyze their assigned folktales, completing Worksheet 2. Circulate to answer questions and provide guidance. Collect the completed worksheets for assessment.
Exploring Values:
Prompt students to consider the values presented in the embedded folktales. Ask them to identify three important values and explain how they are illustrated in specific stories, using evidence from the text. Values might include honesty, generosity, family, friendship, or perseverance.
III. The Power of Language: Vivid Descriptions
Grace Lin’s writing is characterized by its vivid and evocative language. This activity focuses on analyzing and replicating her descriptive style.
Pre-Activity: Identifying Challenges and Qualities:
- List the challenges Minli faces.
- Identify the qualities she demonstrates in overcoming these challenges.
- Ask students to reflect on a personal challenge and write three sentences:
- What was the challenge?
- How did you meet the challenge?
- What qualities did you show?
Activity: Sharing and Analyzing Vivid Language:
- Students share their sentences in small groups, discussing their feelings after overcoming the challenge.
- Explain that they will use these sentences as a basis for a personal narrative, emphasizing the importance of vivid language.
- Compare the sentence “There was a mountain near the village” with the opening sentence of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: “Far away from here, following the Jade River, there was once a black mountain that cut into the sky like a jagged piece of rough metal.”
Discuss the Differences:
- “Far away from here” suggests an exotic location.
- “Jade River” hints at China and something valuable.
- “Black mountain” seems ominous.
- “Cut into the sky like a jagged piece of rough metal” is a simile, suggesting harshness and danger.
Analyzing Further Examples:
Have students read the second paragraph and discuss the connotations of words like “crowded,” “faded brown,” and “dried mud,” contrasting it with a simpler sentence like “Their village was dirty and their work was hard.”
Ask students to find a vivid sentence in the book and explain what makes it colorful and engaging.
Worksheet 3: Practicing Vivid Language:
Distribute Worksheet 3 and guide students through the first sentence together. Brainstorm synonyms and alternatives for “house,” “high ground,” and “was.” Introduce the use of a thesaurus.
Have students complete the worksheet, compare results with a partner, and share their best sentence with the class.
The Goldfish Man, a recurring character, embodies sacrifice and the importance of fulfilling one’s potential.
IV. Assessment
Activity 1: Socratic Seminar Questions
Once students have completed the book, facilitate a Socratic seminar or class discussion to gauge their understanding. Some sample discussion questions:
- Who is the most generous character in the book, and how do you know?
- Why did Ma and Minli both learn to be content?
- What is the “secret of happiness,” according to the book, and what do you think it is?
- How important is magic in the story?
- What are the qualities of a true friend, and which characters embody these qualities?
- Why was storytelling so important to Minli and Ba?
Activity 2: Values Paragraph
Your values are your principles, the things that you hold to be important in life. You may value money, friends, family or ideals like honesty, generosity, and faith. As you look at the embedded folk tales in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, what are three values that seem to be important? Explain what you mean by each value and show how it is illustrated in one of the embedded folk tales. Be sure to use evidence from the story to support your ideas.
Activity 3: Vivid Language Rewrite
Rewrite one of the following passages to make it more vivid, using specific language and concrete details:
- One day I thought I would surprise my friends. I brought my pet into school. We walked down the hall and into the classroom. My teacher said she was really surprised and she told me how she felt about my pet. The principal told me that was not a good idea.
- I went down to the cellar the other day. The cellar was dark and kind of creepy. There were a lot of things down there. I was glad to see a few things from when I was younger and I started to play with them. Then I dropped something and it made a loud noise. My father came down the stairs and asked what I was doing down there.
This comprehensive study guide provides educators and students with the tools to deeply explore Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, fostering critical thinking, literary analysis, and an appreciation for the power of storytelling.
