Waiting

Lesson 28
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ELA

Unit 6

11th Grade

Lesson 28 of 30

Objective


Analyze the author’s messages about love and about China.

Evaluate Lin as a character.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Waiting by Ha Jin  pp. 299 – 308 — Part Three: Chapter 12

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

Is Waiting ultimately a novel about love or a novel about China?

In the end, how do you feel about Lin? Do you relate to Lin and feel for his predicament? Or do you find yourself frustrated or disgusted with him? Why

Key Questions


  • How does Lin’s internal dialogue at the beginning of the chapter continue to develop his tragic flaw?
  • What is most likely Manna’s motivation for suggesting Lin visit Hua? (p. 299)
  • Track the reasons that Lin hesitates to enter when he arrives.
  • What is the lesson Lin has most likely absorbed from the story about the retired official on p. 302?
  • How do Hua and Shuyu treat Lin? Why is this a bit surprising based on his actions? How does their treatment and their home affect Lin? Track this throughout the chapter.
  • Do you agree with Lin that he has made a mess of his life and the lives of others? (p. 303) To what degree is the Communist government and society to blame for the mess of his life?
  • Lin thinks to himself on p. 304, “How we’re each sequestered in our own suffering!” What does this mean? What does it reveal about life in general or about life in China specifically?
  • What does Lin say to Hua and Shuyu once he is drunk. Do his words surprise you? What do they highlight about Lin’s character? His flaws?
  • Once Lin remembers what he has said the next day, how does he feel? 
  • What is the significance of the final sentence of the novel? 

Next

Discuss and debate the essential questions using evidence from the novel.

Lesson 29
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