Digging up Dragon Bones

Introduction

You are either Art or Wendy and are getting a little bit tired of listening to Ruth's problems and complaints about her mom.  However tired you become, you still realize that you care about Ruth, or else you would have left years ago.  Maybe if you understood her a little better, you would be able to deal with her eccentric personality a bit more easily.  Therefore, you have decided to do a little research into her past and the past of her ancestors.  Afterall, LuLing does seem like she has some interesting stories to tell, even if they sound a little crazy.

Task

TASK:  You must research all sorts of information about China in order to better understand Ruth and her family.  At the end of the this webquest you must write a reflection about LuLing's life as you understand it.  You will look into the following research topics throughout your quest to know Ruth:

- Medicine

- Philosophy

- Family life 

- Language (written and spoken)                                                 

- Women's Roles

- Love Matches

- Dragons

   

                                                                    

Process

Use the following websites to complete your research.  Keep in mind how all these things work together to help you understand Ruth and her family.  Perhaps when you are done you'll fall more in love with her than you were before.  Or... perhaps you will leave here more mystified and confused!  

Good Luck and happy researching!

Medicine and Philosophy

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749758

The Family and Language

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/destinations/popups…

http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/types.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/destinations/popups…

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/web-hunt-china-yesterday-and…

http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson3.html

Foot Binding

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/02/china-s-last-foot-bind…

Wedding Traditions

http://chineseculture.about.com/od/chinesefestivals/a/Chinese-Wedding-T…

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa121799a.htm

Astrology

http://www.astrology.com.au/chineseastro/

Dragons

http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2004-02/25/content_45896.htm

Conclusion

Art/Wendy:

Hopefully by now you have a much better understanding of Ruth and LuLing and possibly their relationship.  Look at and analyze all of the information that you compiled over the last hour.  

Write a one page reflection on how culture might have influenced Luling and Ruth.  Think about and answer the following questions (in paragraph form):

1.  How does culture influence people's life?  How might it have influenced LuLing and Ruth?

2. How has LuLing taken some of her history and forced it on Ruth? 

3.  How is traditional Chinese culture different than American culture?  How do you think this might affect LuLing and Ruth.

These are just questions to get you started on your reflection.  Please feel free to add whatever else you discovered.  But remember, always connect back to Ruth, after all, that's why we're here.