University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
Students must complete ALL the assignments listed below:
Mandatory Reading Assignment

Read So Far from the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. Students will be required to
demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the literature at the beginning of the school year.

Complete the attached guided reading questions and graphic organizers for So Far from the Bamboo
Grove.
Selected Summer Reading Assignment

Read one of the novels listed below, complete the graphic organizer (character traits), and answer the
following prompt in a 1-paragraph response:
In most stories, the protagonists undergo a set of experiences that changes the way they look at themselves
and the world around them. Using evidence and examples from the novel to support your essay,
demonstrate how the protagonist in your summer reading novel changes from beginning to end.
A Mango‐Shaped Space
Ender’s Game
Esperanza Rising
Fever, 1793
London Calling
Peak
Scat
Things Hoped For
Where the Red Fern Grows
Wendy Mass
Orson Scott Card
Pam Munoz Ryan
Laurie Halse Anderson
Edward Bloor
Roland Smith
Carl Hiaasen
Andrew Clements
Wilson Rawls
Questions

Is the assignment being graded?
Yes. This assignment will be collected and graded. Students will take an objective assessment during the
first week of school. Completing the guided reading questions will prepare students.



Is this a group project?
No. This is an individual assignment. Students are expected to submit original work.
What happens if I haven’t read the books before the first day of school?
As a member of the University School community, you are expected to complete the reading over the
summer. You will be assessed on the assignment from day one, and the grades will be entered in
MyBackpack.
When is the assignment due?
The due dates for the assignments will be posted on Blackboard once the school year has begun. Expect
to turn in both assignments on the first day of school.
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
Directions: Complete the following graphic organizer for So Far from the Bamboo Grove by filling out the
shapes with examples from the story that demonstrate Yoko’s trait in the central circle.
refuses to eat
carrots
says she’s
“beginning to hate”
Ko
Bites police officer
Yoko
STRONG-WILLED
stands up to girls at
Sagano School
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
Directions: Complete the following graphic organizer for So Far from the Bamboo Grove by filling out the
shapes with examples from the story that demonstrate Yoko’s trait in the central circle.
Yoko
KIND
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
Guided Reading Questions
Directions: In complete sentences, answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper.
Chapters 1-6
1.
What do you think will happen to Mrs. Kawashima, Yoko, and Ko when they get to Japan?
2.
How would you compare Yoko and Ko?
3.
Yoko Kawashima Watkins has written, “War…robs everyone’s gentle heart.” Do you find that events in
this section of the memoir support or disprove that statement? Explain.
4.
In which part of the world today might young people experience ordeals similar to Yoko’s.
Chapters 6-11
5.
Describe your reactions to the reunion of Hideyo and his sisters.
6.
How would you compare Hideyo’s journey with Yoko and ko’s?
7.
Which of Yoko’s actions do you admire the most, and why?
8.
Explain whether or not Mrs. Kawashima’s death came as a surprise to you.
9.
Japanese customs dictate avoidance of strangers. Why do you think Mrs. Masuda offers to help Yoko
and Ko, who are strangers to her?
10.
People respond in many ways to personal suffering. Some may become bitter and angry, others may
become stronger, braver, or more compassionate. Still others change little or not at all. How would
you describe the way Yoko responds to personal suffering? Support your views with details from the
memoir.
11.
This memoir retells events that occurred more than fifty years ago. Is the memoir still relevant for
young people today? Explain your reasons for your opinion.
WRITING PROMPT
Directions: On a separate piece of paper, respond to ONE of the following prompts in complete sentences.
A) Write a journal entry describing an incident from Mrs. Kawashima’s point of view.
B) Yoko’s composition titled “understanding” wins an essay contest. Write one or more paragraphs that Yoko
might have included in her essay.
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
VOCABULARY
Directions: Use these definitions to help you understand the cultural significance of the story.
Tokonoma
a corner devoted to the beauty of nature, usually decorated with a painting or scroll and
a fresh flower arrangement.
calligraphy
the art of stylized writing with brush and ink
frog
a weighted holder to keep flowers in place in a vase
shamisen
a small, stringed musical instrument sounding something like a ukulele
koto
a rectangular musical instrument with thirteen strings
kimono
a long, decorated Japanese robe with wide sleeves
obi
a wide sash worn with a kimono
geta
wooden clogs, worn in wet weather or mud
fusuma
sliding window-panel in a wall
tatami
3’ x 6’ straw mat used as flooring
futon
bed set consisting of a quilted cotton mattress and comforter
miso
soybean paste, used to make nutritious broth
tofu
soybean curd, a source of protein, resembling a firm custard
hibachi
small grill for cooking
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
The chronology below shows some of the significant dates in Korean and Japanese history, providing a context
for understanding events in So Far from the Bamboo Grove.
1876
Japan forces a trade agreement with Korea, securing Korean mineral resources for
burgeoning Japanese industries.
1894-1895
Japan wages war against China, partly to secure control of Korea.
1904
Japan wages war against Russia and emerges as a world power. U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt agrees to support Japanese presence in Korea and Manchuria in
return for Japanese support of U.S. presence in the Philippines.
1910
Japan annexes Korea. Japanese officials control Korea's government, military, and
schools. Many Korean nationalists flee into exile, where they begin planning to free
Korea from Japanese occupation.
1920
Japan joins the newly formed League of Nations.
1930s
Korean nationalists in Manchuria and U.S.S.R., with Communist aid, form guerrilla
armies to harass Japanese forces.
1931
Japanese forces take over Manchuria and move into Mongolia. The League of Nations
condemns Japan.
1937-1945
Japan wages war against China. U.S. and Allies support China.
1940
Japan occupies northern Indochina, attempting to cut off sup- plies to China. In protest,
U.S. severs economic ties with Japan. Japan signs Tripartite Pact, allying itself with Axis
powers.
1941
Japan occupies southern Indochina. U.S.S.R., invaded by Germany, joins Allies. General
Hideki Tojo becomes Japan's prime minister and orders Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. U.S. declares war on Japan and Axis powers.
1945
U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to defeat Japan. World War II
ends. Korean nationalists return to Korea, as Korean Communist Army, to drive out the
Japanese. United States and U.S.S.R. divide Korea.
1948
Two Korean nations are officially established: North Korea, led by Kim II-sung, and
South Korea, led by Syngman Rhee. Korean leaders Syngman Rhee, Kim Ku, and Kim
Kyusik return from exile; more anti-Japanese violence erupts. Yoko, Ko, and Mother sail
for Japan.
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS (cont.)
July 29, 1945
Korean guerrillas land near Nanam. Yoko, Ko, and Mother flee.
August 2
Korean guerrillas attack Hideyo's workplace. Hideyo flees.
August 6
The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
August
August 15
The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The Soviet Union declares war on
Japan and invades northern Korea.
Japan surrenders. Koreans step up efforts to oust Japanese from Korea.
August 16
Yoko, Ko, and Mother learn of Japan's sur- render and arrive in Seoul.
August 17
Hideyo and friends learn of Japan's surren- der and arrive in Tanchen.
September 2
The United States and the Soviet Union divide Korea at the 38th parallel.
September 9
U.S. General Hodge arrives in Seoul; Japanese forces in South Korea surrender to him.
Korean celebrations grow violent.
September 25 (?)
Yoko,Ko, and Mother leave Seoul for Pusan.
September 30 (?)
Hideyo leaves Wonsan for Seoul.
October, 1945
Korean leaders Syngman Rhee, Kim Ku, and Kim Kyusik return from exile; more antiJapanese violence erupts. Yoko, Ko, and Mother sail for Japan.
University School Middle School
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Incoming 7th Grade
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: YOKO KAWASHIMA WATKINS
Although Yoko Kawashima (1934-) was born in Harbin, Manchuria, she always considered Japan as her
homeland. Japan was the birthplace of her parents, her brother, and her sister. When Yoko's father took a
government post in Manchuria, the family moved there and, shortly afterward, resettled in Nanam, in
northern Korea. Mr. Kawashima commuted between Nanam and Manchuria.
In Nanam, the Kawashima children received a traditional Japanese upbringing, attending Japanese schools and
studying the classical arts of Japan. From the time she was in first grade, Yoko wanted to be a writer. That
year, she wrote a story about her conversations with two canaries her father had given her. Although her
classmates teased her about her "far-fetched" story, her father praised it-and the local newspaper published
it.
Yoko was 7, her sister Ko 12, and her brother Hideyo 14 when Japan entered World War II in 1941. After four
years of increasing tension, militant Korean nationalists moved to oust the Japanese from Korea. One night,
with only a few minutes' warning, Mrs. Kawashima and her daughters had to flee Nanam. Hideyo, working in
another town, was left to follow on his own.
During the family's desperate flight southward to Seoul, across the sea to Japan, and inland to Kyoto, Japan fell
to the Allies. Unbeknownst to his family, Mr. Kawashima was captured by Russian troops and imprisoned in
Siberia. Shortly after arriving in Japan, Mrs. Kawashima died in Yoko's arms. Yoko and her older sister then
lived on their own in an abandoned warehouse, where Hideyo ultimately joined them. The three managed to
support one another through increasingly difficult circumstances, and Yoko managed to complete high school.
When Mr. Kawashima finally located his children after his release from prison, Yoko was 17, enrolled in a
university program to qualify as an English translator. After graduation she moved north to Aomori with her
father and worked as a bilingual secretary at an American Air Force base. There, in 1953, she married
American pilot Donald Watkins. In 1958 the couple moved to the United States, settling in Massachusetts to
raise a large family, including two Taiwanese orphans.
So Far from the Bamboo Grove earned high praise when it was published in 1986. Its success launched
Watkins on a series of international speaking engagements. She established an immediate rapport with
audiences, as she emphasized' the importance of sharing and of working for world peace. In 1994 she
published a sequel to her memoir, entitled My Brother, My Sister, and I. Watkins also is the author of Tales
From the Bamboo Grove (1992), a retelling of Japanese folk tales that she first heard from her parents.
Middle School
th
Incoming 7 Grade
Summer Reading Assignment 2013-2014
Directions: For your selected summer reading novel (NOT BAMBOO GROVE), use the following graphic organizer to chart how the protagonist’s key
traits change throughout the course of the novel. You should have the same three traits in each box. Make sure to find specific details, passages,
or quotations from the novel that demonstrate how the protagonist’s traits have changed. Don’t choose traits that stay the same!
Trait #1 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Trait #2 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Protagonist in the Beginning
Protagonist at the End
Trait #3 ( _____________)
Trait #1 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Evidence:
pg. #
Trait #1 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Protagonist in the Middle
Trait #2 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Trait #2 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Trait #3 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #
Trait #3 ( _____________)
Evidence:
pg. #