On a quiet night, looking up at the starry sky, countless elves in the universe seem to lie in your whispers, either happy or sad, or resentful or loving, so you look at them from a distance and fall in love with them.
More than 2,000 years ago, during the Han Dynasty in China, Xiao Zhangheng counted the stars in his grandmother's arms every night and became an astronomer. More than 70 years ago, in Andersen's hometown of Denmark, there was a little girl Anne who was only ten years old. Is that how she counts the stars? What will happen?
Counting Stars is the work of Lois Laurie, one of the top ten British children's literature writers. She won the newbury Gold Award for the first time. In America, this book is a must-read for middle school students. No matter from the perspective of literature, history or inspiration, it is a masterpiece worthy of careful taste by readers of any age.
The opposition between a change and the same.
In many literary works, binary opposition is everywhere. In the book Counting Stars, we will discuss the opposition between change and invariability.
1. As soon as German soldiers appeared, their helmets, cold eyes, military boots and fascist images remained unchanged. It happens every time: ruthless colonial violence.
2. The kind and serious Danish king rides a horse in the street every day. When the Germans came, knowing that the weak Denmark could not compare with the strong German soldiers, the king chose to surrender. Although Denmark has become a surrendered country, the Danish people's heartfelt commitment to defending the king and protecting Denmark has not changed.
My sister died and my fiance Peter's brother changed. Become more stable and mature, and don't like to play with Annie and others. Dad has changed and become old, as if he had been defeated. The whole world seems to have changed. Only the fairy tale in little Chris's heart has never changed.
4. When Mrs. Schiers's shop closed, the busy street suddenly became deserted, because everyone had to "relocate" Danish Jews. All the Jews with names on the list have escaped. No one in Copenhagen has been to the seaside for a holiday, and no one has eaten cake. The war made the economy depressed, people's lives poorer, and there was no pursuit of happiness.
The night I went back to my uncle's house changed. I used to hear laughter, but now there is no laughter at all, only tension and anxiety. Uncle's house by the sea hasn't changed, the beauty there hasn't changed, and Jen hasn't changed either, but the content of Uncle's speech is nearby, and he begins to talk to Annie about bravery. My uncle changed when he went out to sea at night. Why does he look so nervous?
5. Long-legged Annie was so naive and lively at first. When she was a German soldier, she trembled with fear. On the night of protecting Irene, she bravely and decisively broke the necklace of the Star of David and hid it quietly. In order to send her lost handkerchief to her uncle's boat, she bravely made peace with Germany. From the moment her father heard that "Danes are all guardians of the king", she made the ambition that "Danes are also guardians of Jews". In this way, she became stronger, braver and wiser in repeated dangerous hardships! But every time danger comes, she will always think of the fairy tale in her heart. Maybe utopian fairy tales will always exist in children's hearts!
Two? Pay attention to the changes in the text
Chapter 1: What are you running for? On the way to school, Anne and Irene competed for a run and were stopped and threatened by Germany. Then run from chapter 13! Run like hell! This tense handkerchief delivery link echoes the first chapter, and the text is also a variation of the previous story. In order to send the lost handkerchief to uncle's boat, Anne kept running and was intercepted by German soldiers.
This paradigm of text variation appears in many children's literature works: in Charlotte's Web, the first story is that Fern saved Wilbur from death, and the second story is that Charlotte saved Wilbur from death. In Wind in the Willows, at first, the story was that the mole couldn't resist the breath of spring and left home. Later, a toad left the moon and often went out. The similarity between these stories makes them variations of each other. When reading, children can use short stories as a schema to understand long and complicated stories, so that children may have unexpected reading effects when reading.
Three? Pay attention to the suspense and foreshadowing of the novel
Literary works have genres. Fairy tales should be read like this, magic novels should be read like that, and fictional novels should pay attention to the characteristics of novels.
1? My sister's death was not explained at first, so it has always been a mystery. But I wrote many times about the box where my sister got married, especially on that long night, Anne and Irene talked about the box where my sister got married with my sister. It was not until the end that my sister was exposed as an underground party organization, and that box became the safest place for Anne to hide the enlarged satellite necklace.
2? My little sister Elsa can argue naively with German soldiers every time. At the most critical moment, Anne just adopted her sister's approach and foolishly dealt with the German soldiers to let them relax their vigilance, so that she could save the day.
3? At the beginning of the story, Irene's mother is afraid of the sea. Yes, the sea is too big and too cold! In such a cold night, hiding under the cabin and sneaking into Sweden, you have to endure not only the cold of the sea, but also the cruel persecution of political struggle!
4? What's the secret of handkerchief? How important is it? It is worthwhile to send Anne and her son to each other at the risk of death. There are many suspense like this in the text, which are basically explained at the end of the story.
Memory Transplanter is her second work that won the Newbery Gold Award. In this work, there is also the binary opposition of "change and invariability". This book is very creative and encourages young people to think and act independently. Interested students can have a look!