To Live

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

CREATIVE WRITING: “To Live from the Perspective of Fugui’s Family”

In this activity, students will write a narrative from the perspective of one Fugui’s family members.

Hua’s novel shares the experience of Chinese agrarian communities from the perspective of the male protagonist, Fugui. In this Activity, you will retell the story of To Live through the perspective of one of the other members of Fugui’s family. As you shape your narrative, consider the following questions:

• Who is your character, and how is this person related to Fugui?
• What elements of Fugui’s story are similar to and different from this character’s version?
• How does this person’s gender, age, social class, or other characteristics connect with their experiences living during the political transformative years?

After drafting and peer reviewing your writing, share your narrative with the class. Consider the differences and similarities amongst the characters and make note of any patterns that emerge.

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity invites students to consider the different perspectives of the characters in the context of a creative writing assignment. Students should consider how cultural and social expectations affect the character’s choices and development throughout the novel. Before students begin drafting, it may be helpful to outline the plot and/or create a family tree so students can identify the most important events and people in To Live, which they should include in their own narratives.

Differentiation Suggestion: Some students may have difficulty writing from the perspective of a different character. If this is the case, consider choosing a significant paragraph from the text to rewrite and model for students, so they can see how to change the perspective and still maintain the original essence of the story. You might also offer an alternative approach to the creative writing exercise by substituting the above activity with the following prompt: Imagine that you are the narrator, and you are tasked with writing a new folktale based on the stories that you collected from the village. Which aspects would you keep from Fugui’s narrative? Which elements would you add? After drafting your folktale, share it with the class.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Throughout the novel, Fugui connects the status of his family with the animals in their ownership.

• What is the trajectory of the Xu’s family status in relation to their animals? (topic sentence)
• Does this desired trajectory mirror the reality of Fugui’s life? Choose at least three significant moments in the text to support your claim and explain your ideas carefully.
• How does Fugui’s life story connect with the theme The Connection Between Humans and Animals?

2. China’s changing historical landscape plays an important role in this novel. Choose a major historical event that happens in the novel as the basis of your answer.

• What is the significance of this event in Fugui’s life? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least two ways in which this particular event shapes the lives of both Fugui as well as his immediate community.
• How does this historical event speak to the text’s larger theme of Political Systems and Class Divides?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the title of the novel, To Live. How does the protagonist, Fugui, manage to survive? How is this title significant to Fugui’s story? Fugui’s character undergoes a drastic change from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel. How does his character change, and what is the catalyst for this change?

2. Fugui quotes an old saying, “If you escape a calamity with your life, there is bound to be good fortune to follow” (Section 2). Consider the meaning of “fortune” for Fugui and his family. Is this quote ironic or accurate in regards to Fugui’s life? How so?

3. While religion is never directly discussed in the novel, spirituality is mentioned in relation to the fulfilment of the ancestors’ expectations. What is the importance of the link between the living and their dead ancestors, as seen through the text’s major characters? Does Fugui fulfill these expectations? Why or why not?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. In the beginning of the novel, the narrator notes:

“I’d wander all over the place, not even remembering which villages I’d been to and which I hadn’t. As I’d approach the next country village, I’d often hear the children yelling, ‘Hey, that guy who always yawns is back!’ And so the people in the village knew that the man who told dirty stories and sang sad songs had come back again. Actually I learned all those dirty stories and sad songs from them.”

Which of the following literary terms does the narrator use in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Irony

C) Paradox

D) Dichotomy

2. Which of the following words best describes Fugui’s character, based on his childhood teacher’s synopsis of him?

A) Mischievous

B) Studious

C) Austere

D) Absentminded

3. Which of the following words best describes Jiazhen’s role as a partner?

A) Whimsical

B) Restrictive

C) Longsuffering

D) Carefree

4. Fugui recalls, “When Dad finished his sentence […] [h]e extended two fingers and pointed them toward me. ‘The Xu family has begotten two prodigal sons.’” Which of the following literary terms does Fugui’s father use in his statement?

A) Allegory

B) Alliteration

C) Allusion

D) Anaphora

5. Which of the following sentences best describes the aside that the narrator has after listening to the first segment of Fugui’s story?

A) He mocks the old man’s childish emotions.

B) He reveres the old man’s ability to confide in him.

C) He tires at the non-linear structure of his narrative.

D) He questions the validity of the old man’s statements.

6. Which of the following phrases best describes how decisions are made in life?

A) In the hands of fate

B) Based solely on hard work

C) Through money and power

D) With the help of God

7. Which of the following ideologies does the people’s commune most closely resemble?

A) Capitalism

B) Collectivism

C) Constitutionalism

D) Corporatism

8. Which of the following words best describes the tone of Fugui’s narratives?

A) Pedantic

B) Didactic

C) Nostalgic

D) Analytic

9. Which of the following phrases best describes why the group of men taunt Fengxia as she stands next to the bride?

A) Because she is promiscuous in reputation

B) Because she is far uglier than the bride

C) Because she is unable to hear their words or respond to them

D) Because she is physically deformed

10. Which of the following words best describes the interest of Fugui’s village in the changing political landscape?

A) Intrigued

B) Apathetic

C) Concerned

D) Jubilant

11. Which of the following words best describes Fugui and Jiazhen’s relationship with their son-in-law?

A) Tenuous

B) Cordial

C) Affectionate

D) Distasteful

12. How does Erxi’s parenting style differ from other men?

A) He is actively involved in the well-being of his son.

B) He is focused on bringing his son up in the ideology of Chairman Mao.

C) He is not concerned with his son’s sexual identity.

D) He is apathetic to his son’s future.

13. Which of the following statements would Fugui most likely agree with?

A) It is fundamental to follow government orders.

B) It is best to live a simple life.

C) It is important to chase your dreams.

D) It is necessary to accumulate wealth in life.

14. Which of the following phrases best summarizes the role of Fugui’s ox?

A) A symbol of his wife’s fertility

B) A representation of his transition to old age

C) A marker of the evolution to Communism

D) An icon of the Buddhist traditions

15. Which of the following words best describes the format of the story?

A) A dialogue between strangers

B) A manifesto from a peasant to a government official

C) A memoir of an upper-class farmer to his family

D) A discussion centered on two government officials

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the narration style of To Live? How does this speak to the historical context of the story?

2. Fugui uses numerous similes and metaphors within the text. Identify three of these and analyze their effects and/or placement in relation to his narrative.