Historical Backgrounds and Personal Pursuits

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Hi Zhang,
You mentioned in your article that Americans' call for women to return home is closely related to the traditional American view of women and the shadow of the Cold War.
I would like to ask what is the specific relationship between American' call for women to return home and the shadow of the Cold War?
I am a little confused and looking for your answer.
From
Lin

Dear Lin,
I'm glad you Shared your doubts with me. In the last century, capitalist countries generally adopted family-strengthening policies, believing that the mother's child care would help the country's future, and women were legally allowed to work only if men did not interfere with their family obligations. In addition, the United States has presented its citizens with many blueprints for a better family life. At the end of the war, there were large numbers of soldiers who had to take over women's jobs during the war, so women had to go home. This is not only the tradition, but also the influence of the war. If you still have questions, welcome to continue to communicate with me.
From
Zhang Peiyun

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Zhang,

This was a wonderfully written and detailed analysis of the films that shows the side of what feminism truly means. My favorite portion of your writing was when you stated, "no matter what kind of choice, as long as they really want, should be respected. This is the true meaning of female freedom". This idea was the mainstream thought of the feminist movement in America. If a woman wanted a career, she should be able to have one. If a woman wanted to be a housewife, she should be able to be one. The notion of actually having a respected choice is what feminism truly is.

For me, I personally would like a bit more on what you think about the American ideology of women 'returning home'. I was a little confused and I think if you elaborate further on your conclusion of the first part of your paper, your arguement would be a bit stronger.

I look forward to hearing more about your ideas and philosophies that you have presented in your paper!

All the best,
Olivia Myers

Dear Olivia Myers
I am very glad to have the opportunity to communicate with you. The content of my article about American women's "home consciousness" is based on the information I have consulted. In the last century, capitalist countries generally adopted family-strengthening policies, believing that the mother's child care would help the country's future, and women were legally allowed to work only if men did not interfere with their family obligations. In addition, the United States has presented its citizens with many blueprints for a better family life. At the end of the war, there were large numbers of soldiers who had to take over women's jobs during the war, so women had to go home. This is not only the tradition, but also the influence of the war. So I think that the American women's strong desire to go home was largely influenced by the social environment at that time, and to some extent, their sense of self was controlled by the environment.
From
Zhang Peiyun

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Dear Zhang and Xiao,
I am very glad to enjoy your article. I have some views on the profound theme. I don't know what you think.
As for the similarity of the social background of the two films, I think it is still due to the prejudice against the status of women at that time. At that time, both China and the United States were very strict with women, and Westerners valued what women's knowledge and ability could provide for their husbands. For example, in the Mona Lisa's smile, the etiquette teacher taught the female students that you should give your husband selfless help, and your behavior affected the change of your husband's position. On the other hand, China seems to pay more attention to the appearance and status of women. Chinese men always tend to be young, beautiful and respectable women, and the ugliness of Wang Cailing's appearance is also a factor that leads to her not getting the happiness she wants.
The above is my opinion, and I am very glad to continue to communicate with you.
Yours,
Zhou hanying

Dear Zhou
It was a pleasure to talk to you, which expanded the scope of our discussion. Firstly, I agree with you, because there is indeed a lot of misogyny involved in the movie, and I think you can think about that. It's free. Meanwhile, my point of view is personal pursuit. This is because I think the discrimination and unfair treatment of women in the film is to help them find themselves and gain independence. Without the help of these experiences, it is difficult for them to grow up and become mature. But that's one of the meanings of the movie, not the whole theme. Do you agree with me? Welcome to discuss further with me.
Yours
Zhang Peiyun

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Dear Zhang Peiyun,
Thank you for your explanation, it does clear up my confusion on the topic of spiritual superiority.
Towards the end of the paper you also mention that, "Besides, the fate of the three protagonists in the film is also related to the social objective conditions of the time." It interesting to to see that you found three protagonists in the films. The obvious ones are Cailing and Katherine; was the third Joan, I assume? Although she was a minor character, she did have a significant impact the Katherine's life and the overall story.
Your paper is really well written and it is hard for me to find much fault.
However, let me know if you have any other comments or questions for me.
From,
Sarah

Dear Sarah
Thank you very much for your encouragement. Your article is also wonderful, which benefits me a lot. In the process of communication, I suddenly had an idea. Do you think the theme of these two films should be about personal pursuit or feminist pursuit? I'd love to know what you think. Looking forward to your reply.
Yours
Zhang Peiyun

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Dear Zhang Peiyun,
I appreciate your questions because it was also something that I noticed when reading a few peoples essays. I noticed that many American students mention the idea of feminist pursuit, whereas Chinese students focused more on personal freedom. I originally primarily felt that the films highlighted feminist pursuit and freedom because marriage was one of the main topics in both. Cailing receives three proposals and Katherine's students are constantly talking about marriage and how that is their plan after college. Because of this, I felt that the main topic of both was about breaking free from these societal standards for women to be accessories to me. After reading the Chinese students essays, however, I started to understand that there was more to the films than that. Cailing and Katherine were different from the other women and men in their designated films and pursing their own professional dreams. Now, I feel as though both personal and feminist pursuit are major parts of both films. Because the main characters are women, I feel that, in a way, feminist pursuit is the same as personal pursuit. Because they choose not to conform to what others expect of them in their gender roles, they are able to live better lives and be happy.
I hope this answers your questions and let me know if you agree or feel different about the movies.
From,
Sarah Wu

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Dear Zhang Peiyun,
I appreciate your questions because it was also something that I noticed when reading a few peoples essays. I noticed that many American students mention the idea of feminist pursuit, whereas Chinese students focused more on personal freedom. I originally primarily felt that the films highlighted feminist pursuit and freedom because marriage was one of the main topics in both. Cailing receives three proposals and Katherine's students are constantly talking about marriage and how that is their plan after college. Because of this, I felt that the main topic of both was about breaking free from these societal standards for women to be accessories to me. After reading the Chinese students essays, however, I started to understand that there was more to the films than that. Cailing and Katherine were different from the other women and men in their designated films and pursing their own professional dreams. Now, I feel as though both personal and feminist pursuit are major parts of both films. Because the main characters are women, I feel that, in a way, feminist pursuit is the same as personal pursuit. Because they choose not to conform to what others expect of them in their gender roles, they are able to live better lives and be happy.
I hope this answers your questions and let me know if you agree or feel different about the movies.
From,
Sarah Wu

Dear Sarah,
I'm glad to receive your reply. I find in your reply that you have a new understanding, and I am happy for you. In fact, I also think so. Whether it is women's rights or individual pursuit, it is a kind of self-pursuit, which is the pursuit of women's rights or the realization of their dreams. It's just that we've all chosen the main points to discuss in depth, and it's hard to cover them all. Meanwhile, there are many things worth analyzing in the movie, such as the action of the characters, music, discourse and so on. However, this is a trivial process and I don't think about it systematically, but some of my classmates have written a lot about this. If you are interested, please contact me.
The From,
Zhang Peiyun

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Revised Essay

About And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile, I think the pursuit of being true to ourselves is more in line with the themes of both films. Under different historical background, what will be the fate of the self-pursuing characters? What are the different pursuits of the two films? What is the other factors related to the two films？ Below, I will undertake specific analysis from above a few respects.

What kind of the fate of the self-pursuing characters will be in different historical backgrounds? In the two films, the time of the former is the 1990s, when China was undergoing great changes of Reform and Opening up and socio-economic differences were gradually enlarged. Wang Cailing is the epitome of millions of people who seek to achieve their personal goals in developed cities. But the latter lived in the United States in the 1950s. After World War II, the happy housewife was the typical image of American women in this period, and the number of women returning to the family surged and finding themselves under the encouragement of Catherine. It is not hard to see that the reform of China has affected the cognition of every ordinary person, and the American call for women to return home is also closely related to the traditional American view of women and the shadow of the cold war. Thus, the historical background is closely related to the fate of the characters at that time. Without China's epoch-making reform, Wang Cailing would have had little courage to pursue her own destiny. If America does not require women to return to the family, how can the group of lively girls have such a deep-rooted feudal ideology? Besides, at that time, Chinese people were more concerned about food and clothing, so there was no room for artistic development. So wang's tragedy was not entirely unexpected. In Mona Lisa Smile, because the rapid postwar prosperity of the United States have laid the foundation for the liberation of people's minds, the girls was able to find themselves. If not, why should girls be educated to study art?And the performance of the girls in the film also shows that they are a group of girls with independent thoughts and personalities.

What is the different pursuits between the two films? In my opinion, there are two differences between the two films, one is the pursuit of different goals, the other is the pursuit of different freedom. The art of And the Spring Comes is still not widely loved by the masses, let alone the small cities of the early 1990s. So the the protagonist's persistent pursuit of art with Wang Cailing as the representative is bound to be a tragedy. After experiencing numerous blows, she still chose the unremitting pursuit of art. In addition to her love for art, the deeper reason is that she can acquire a sense of spiritual superiority, which comforts her to be different from the ordinary people. This sense of spiritual superiority will eventually translate into a sense of superiority in real life. For someone like her, if that goal is not achieved, the rest of her life is meaningless. For the meaning of life is what they give to themselves, not to others. It can be said that the pursuit of freedom of such people represented by Wang Cailing is a kind of spiritual freedom. This pursuit became a way to redeem themselves and change their fate. In Mona Lisa smile, the film not only awakens the girls' sense of self, but also profoundly expounds the freedom of women. In addition to recognizing that they are not accessories to the family, it is important to realize that woman's freedom also lies in their right to make independent choices. This can be found in the conversation between Catherine and Joan. For example, Joan chose family over the chance to study law at Yale. Although she returned home, it was the life she wanted. No matter what they choose, as long as they really want, they should respect. This is the true meaning of freedom. What's more, the access of talented girls to higher education was limited by so feudal ideas and individual consciousness that being an excellent housewife is their pursuit. Finally, with the help of Catherine, they find the meaning of being themselves. The goal of this pursuit is self-awareness.

What is the other factors related to the two films？In Mona Lisa Smile, the images of the actors' costumes, the shooting style of the film and the natural scenery are all in bright colors. Besides, all of these images vividly presented the social situation at that time, which echoes the happy ending of the protagonists' success in pursuiting freedom and makes the whole story have a sunny and positive atmosphere. In the And the Spring Comes, the costumes of the actors are relatively bleak and plain, the protagonist also gives us a kind of tired impression, the shooting environment is also winter, the whole theme is depressed. As the title says, spring has come and winter has not yet passed, which is just in line with the social situation of China at that time, which has made new development but still has many backward restrictions. This sets off a sombre atmosphere, symbolizing the failure to pursue dreams. Although there are some scenes in the film with bright colors, such as red for firecrackers and yellow scarf, the impact of these bright colors actually implies a small turn in the theme of the movie. Therefore, these details in the film represent the scenes of the social conditions at that time, which can help the audience understand the differences between the two films, and also make the impact of different classes, social conditions and historical backgrounds on the outcome be strongly proved.

Finally, through the comparison of the two films in different historical backgrounds, we can also feel the profound influence of the history background on people. Furthermore, the protagonists in both films achieve self-growth and find their own identity. Although the result is different, this contrast between joy and sorrow can make people break through the prison and pursue themselves bravely, and also makes us understand how meaningful it is for us to bravely pursue ourselves when we face difficulties.

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Reflection

1. At the beginning, I liked the form of cross ocean interactive email. Considering the influence of time difference, Chinese and American students can check the reply online in their spare time, communicate with each other and discuss the comparison of films. The last two weeks of cross ocean interaction have come to a successful end, and I have benefited a lot from it, meeting my expectations. We prefer to send SMS, QQ, wechat and other information than Americans. I admit that these communication tools are also very convenient, but I think they are only suitable for small-scale communication occasions. SMS, wechat and other methods are suitable for short messages and casual conversations, such as meeting with friends and asking them "have you eaten yet". Email is more suitable for longer, more formal information. American students like to use email to contact teachers, professors, colleagues, bosses and customers. Email does not disturb the other party. The other party can reply to email in his spare time according to his time, which can also make him more comfortable.


2. First, when it comes to lexical choice, you should start the message with a separate line of address, and then enter two empty lines to start the text. In particular, don't use the more casual everyday expressions like hey and hello at the beginning. There are many forms at the end of the email, and the recommended ones are "thank you", "sincerely", "regards", "best". Especially if you email for help, it's best to end with thank you.
Second, there is different ways of writing between Chinese and American students. Chinese students are used to summarizing the meaning of materials in their compositions or writing detailed reports to record their experience in watching movies. What American students are required to do in writing class is "to put forward original opinions and Analysis on the basis of the original text" or "to sort out the structure of the article and how the author expresses himself" and so on. Therefore, students from different cultural backgrounds write in different ways.
Third, there is difference of cultural convention between Chinese and American students. In the process of interaction with American students, we share some different ideas between China and the West.
1、Population mobility. Americans work and live in more than ten cities on average in their lives, so the mobility is very large. Especially for young people, buying a house is not a good way. Renting a house is obviously more convenient.
2、Chinese and American students Living concept. Americans are quite indifferent to the view of the house. In the eyes of Americans, it's normal to rent a house, especially the proportion of people who rent a house to get married is still rising.
3、Americans rarely compare with each other, nor do they casually ask too personal things, or even casually ask each other whether their houses are bought or rented.
4、Family concept. It's impossible for Americans to buy a house with the help of their parents. Real American children need to pay rent when they live at home when they grow up, so it's unimaginable for generations of people like China to work hard to buy a house.
5、Consumption concept. American young people may not be willing to buy a house, but they may go abroad to play for a few months. The ideal of American young people is to live only once in their life. Therefore, it is inconceivable to let Americans save money and buy houses like Chinese people, even more than one house.


3. Yes, in the revised essay, we added the content of discussion on the basis of the original draft.
Reason:
In our articles, our thinking is to write from the perspective of the historical background influencing the individual's pursuit and independence. Because we find that the encounters and endings of the characters in the article are inseparable from the historical background at that time, which not only limits the characters' own conditions, but also explains the differences between their pursuit goals and the reasons for different endings. So, we've asked three questions to help us argue our point. However, after discussion with other students, we found that the content of the manuscript was still too limited. Because in other students' articles, we can see other students have multiple perspectives to analyze, instead of focusing on one point. What impresses us most is that other students have noticed the details of the film, such as the costumes of the characters and the film environment, and found the connection with the theme.I think it's a very good idea, because it's a way to see the subtlety of the film in the details, and it's a way to reinforce the context of the story.

Therefore, we analyzed the clothing in Mona Lisa Smile, shooting angle and natural scenery, and believed that these correspond to the ending that the girls finally find themselves, which makes the whole story have a sunny and positive atmosphere. The clothes in And Spring Comes are more bleak, the protagonist also gives us a kind of tired impression, the shooting environment is also winter, the whole theme is depressed. This sets off a sombre atmosphere, symbolizing the failure to pursue dreams. Although the color of the limited picture has impact, such as red for firecrackers and yellow scarf, the impact of these bright colors actually implies a small turn in the theme of the movie.
In other aspects, we adopted the opinions of other students. By refining our language and combining parts of the content, we can effectively convey our ideas and reduce the fatigue of reading.

The above is the main content of our modification.


4. Yes. We benefit from a lot. First, I learned from American students to have a good attitude. Americans think that you should get as much reward as you put in effort. If you don't get it, continue to work next time. If you get more than expected, it's a fluke. You should work harder next time. After experiencing all kinds of test rankings in China, we regard performance as the top priority, and it's easy to affect our mood and other things because of performance. After this cross-border interaction, facing the same thing and the same result, we will see the problem from different perspectives and get different experience. Only by being able to calmly look at all the things that happen around you and be able to handle things without surprise, can you calmly face all the challenges in the future.

The second point is to learn perseverance from American students. Don't give up easily. Once they find a question, they will concentrate on finding the answer wholeheartedly, and the effort is continuous.

Third, they have the courage to challenge authority. The United States is a country that pays more attention to the development of personal thoughts, and I believe that many students are also affected by this. American teachers encouraged American students to say what they thought when they were very young. In high school and University, professors teach knowledge to students in a way of discussion. In their eyes, these children are not students, but adults whose thoughts are gradually mature, so every point of view is very important. When students question what they say, they will listen quietly, and then analyze the scientific nature of the question. And teachers never grudgingly praise their students. No matter how ridiculous the problem is, American students will come up with it as long as they think it is very important for them. This kind of teaching method has cultivated the habit of self-confidence for American students. Everyone has the right to express their own opinions, which is fully used by American students. I have also seen some professors who are baffled by students' questions in class. It's not how tricky their questions are, but no one has ever thought about them from this perspective, which makes the professors do not know how to use the knowledge known by students to solve problems for a while. Just like our writing class now, the teacher stressed from the first class that there is no absolute right or wrong view on the problem, only different angles. If you think you are right, you should try to persuade others with facts. Fourth, self-confidence does not mean arrogance. Most American students will respect others' opinions, listen politely to others' opinions, and then express their own opinions. We have all learned the story of Galileo against Aristotle, as well as the anecdotes of Bruno 's establishment of his materialistic natural philosophy of cosmology despite the church' s opposition. In real life, there are few students like Galileo and Bruno. To express one's own opinions is not to deny all the words said by the teacher, but to make sure that one has fully understood what the teacher said before asking questions, and then to express one's own opinions. Last but not the least, in the process of writing, we should pay attention to the strictness of vocabulary and think with western thinking, otherwise American students may not understand what we want to express. Many words, especially the key words in the conclusion are not clear in meaning, so we need to find out: first, find out the key words in the reason and conclusion to see if there is ambiguity; second, find out the clear meaning of the key words by checking the context; second, make sure that the explanation in the dictionary does not necessarily conform to the context; finally, pay attention to some contents Emotional words may short-circuit thinking.


7. The first word is politeness. In the cross-border interaction, it is the knowledge exchange between Chinese and American students in different cultural backgrounds. It is very important that we pay attention to polite expressions to show respect for each other. The two American college students who communicate with our group are very friendly and polite in the email, which makes me learn to communicate with others in a polite manner in my daily life.

The second word is open-mind. In the discussion of the two films, American students especially welcome us to ask questions. Basically, they will say, "if you have any questions, please contact me." This gives me a lot of space to get to the bottom of it, and I will also get double knowledge. American students will not exclude us from asking questions. I have learned from the cross-border interaction that in life, I should also live with an open mind to get along with my classmates and learn from each other.

The third word is critical-thinking. In the cross-border interaction, when I want American students to accept a point of view, I must have a strong and convincing reason to demonstrate my point of view. Otherwise, I can't persuade the other party to agree with me. American students emphasize the importance of logical reasoning argument, the key is not what to believe, but why to believe. The significance of critical thinking is not to find fault, but to form their own critical thinking and form a rational thinking mode, so that everyone will not easily blindly follow their own views or social phenomena in ordinary times and be good at self thinking.


8. I suggest that teachers can give different instructions for different students and their homework. Different comments on different students can stimulate students' enthusiasm for learning, make the top students go to a higher level, make the middle students correct their shortcomings, carry forward their advantages, and make the students who are temporarily backward overcome their fear and build up their confidence. We hope to be praised and encouraged by teachers when we have cross-border interaction, which is the spiritual need of students. If their spiritual needs are not met for a long time, they will have negative thoughts.