As Ha begins to adjust to school, she begins to better understand the actions of the other kids. Why is the chapter called "More is Not Better?" (page 168) Use examples from the story to explain this. At school Miss Scott shows the class important photographs. What were they of and what was their significance?
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The chapter is called More is not better because Ha doesn’t want to know what they’re actually trying to say to her because that can be really hurtful and it’s better off not knowing something that is going to hurt your feelings so that you don’t get offended. Ha didn’t know what they were trying to say to her and therefore it didn’t matter to her, but now she understands that they are calling her mean names and it really offends her.
ReplyDeleteThe photos that Miss Scott was showing the class was to show them what was left of Vietnam and to show them what Ha had been through. And maybe she was teaching about Vietnam or about their culture or maybe something that had happened there and why Ha had come to Alabama.
The chapter is called, More Is Not Better, because as Ha learns more information about why the kids are teasing her, she feels worse and worse about not fitting in. In the chapter called HA LE LU DA, Ha goes to church. This is a different religion and she doesn’t fit in with the crowd. On page 173, Ha’s mom burns orange peels instead of incense, and Ha hears, “Clang, clang, clang” instead of the beautiful gong sound she would hear at home in Vietnam. The text says, “Instead of Japanese incense, Mother burns dried orange peels. Ashy bitter citrus invades our room. Nothing like the floral wafts that once calmed me. I try but I can’t fall asleep, needing amethyst-ring twirls and her lavender scent.” In the chapter called Hair, four girls from Ha’s class, put barrettes in her hair. When they took them out the next day, her hair fell back to being straight. This made her different, because she spent her life wishing for long hair and now she has that, but her hair isn’t curly like the other girls. In her class, at home and at church, Ha feels very different. I think that Ha thought that since she now knows more about America, she would have more friends and people to be with at home and at school.
ReplyDeleteThe important photographs that Miss Scott shows the kids at school are pictures of Vietnam. Miss Scott tells the class that Vietnam is where Ha is from. In the chapter, War and Peace, Miss Scott shows pictures of the war. There is a picture of a naked girl running and crying, and a picture of people trying to get on the last helicopter out of Saigon. Ha thought Miss Scott should have shown pictures of happy things from Vietnam like pictures of Tet and pictures of ripe papayas. Ha says sometimes she’d rather be in war in Saigon instead of being in peace in Alabama. This shows how much Ha doesn’t like living in Alabama and how she feels so different from everyone else.
The chapter is called “More is not better” because she now knows that the kids are making fun of her. Ha really doesn’t want to know that. Ha knew what they are saying now and doesn’t want to think that they are making fun of her. The pictures were really not nice because it showed people screaming trying to get to safety. That is no happy photo. She probably referred to Vietnam when Ha saw those pictures. Those pictures were scary for Ha.
ReplyDeleteWhy the chapter is called more is not better is in the chapter it says that Ha understands that more knowledge is not better because then you know that the kids are making fun of her.What the photos were of is Saigon.Why they were so significance is Saigon is were Ha lived and the photos showed the chaos because of the war and how people were suffering.
ReplyDeleteI think the chapter "more is not better" is called that because knowing MORE IS NOT BETTER. Ha did not want to know the kids are teasing her because it makes her feel bad and it feels like she doesn't fit in. This is true because the text says "I understand and wish I could go back to not understanding." The pictures Miss Scott shows to the class are of war time in Saigon and I think Ha doesn't like them because it probably feels like Miss Scott is trying to make them feel bad for her.
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