Year 9 | Uplift Education English Department

Week 27
Activity 1:
Define all terms. Your Uplift Mentor will guide you through the list and help you understand how to use
the words in sentences.
Vocabulary Building
Perspicuous Clearly expressed and easily understood; straight forward

By employing metaphorical language, the composer had digressed from providing

simpler and perspicuous connection between ideas.
Cohesive Works well when combined/united; bond together well
Noun: cohesion
Adjective: cohesive
Verb: cohere

It is crucial to be open minded in political processes in the quest for social cohesion.
Penchant A strong or habitual liking for something; tendency to do something

Emily had a penchant for overcomplicating objectively simple situations, resulting in

her perpetual state of anxiety.

Proverb A short, well known saying stating a general truth or piece of advice
Example: actions speak louder than words

Whilst proverbs are often culture-specific, they offer universal lessons on the human
condition.
Reluctant Unwilling to do a certain task ; hesitant

Insecurities and fear of judgment can often cause the individual to become reluctant
to make the connections that they inherently desire.

Incandescent Full of emotion; passionate

Kylie Kwong’s memoir My China outlines her incandescent excitement as she travels
China and discovers her cultural heritage and identity.

Wearisome Causing boredom or tiredness

Some people have found it wearisome to complete their work/education from home
due to the stay at home orders requiring dependence on technology.

Zealous Being greatly enthusiastic or energetic to achieve an objective

Kylie Kwong’s immersive memoir My China encapsulates the zealous exploration

and discovery of her cultural heritage through food.

© Uplift Education | Level 1 149-151 George St Liverpool NSW Australia | 1300 929 299 | uplifteducation.edu.au
Activity 2:
Read the extract from My China by Kylie Kwong. Your Uplift Mentor will help you annotate
English literary conventions and understand any terms you aren’t familiar with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5EzLItSb5I&ab_channel=SittingInPictures
Genre: memoir (recount of past experiences and it usually involves a lot of REFLECTION and
INTROSPECTION)
“feast for all the senses” à creates an immersive sensory experience for the reader

Literary Comprehension
Conventions Notes
We had scoured the local markets that morning for the
fresh-est vegetables, including yellow garlic chives,
wonderfully crunchy lotus roots and shiny purple
eggplants; live baby fish and snappy little crabs; large red
chillies and small green chillies … I make up the recipes
as I go along. I am on such a high, I don’t know who to
smile at next. As the flames roar into life under what
seems like the world’s biggest and hottest wok, and with
the temperature climbing as the sun rises in the sky, it
is sultry and smoky. In the background are timeless
scenes of paddy fields tended by workers wearing
traditional bamboo hats, while closer to me old men sit
around the fire flashing gold-toothed smiles and smoking
rather interesting-looking cigarettes.

The village women are enchanting. Although we first met

just hours ago, I feel as if we have known each other
for years, and we easily slip into this incredibly
harmonious and efficient ‘working bee.’ Squatting on their
haunches, three of the women wash and wipe dishes, while
the fourth goes up and down the path to the well, filling
and carrying two pails on each trip.

These villagers are very fit: they live simply, eat only
fresh food and, as farmers, work very hard in tune with
the seasons. Despite having so few of those essentials we
take for granted (there’s no piped gas, running water or
electricity in the village), they have such spirit – their
eyes dance, they laugh all the time, they are responsive
and seem to live in the moment … I say to myself, This is
what living is all about.

As I cook over an open flame in this remote village, I feel

so at home. My mind begins to wander. So this is where
the old man came from, this is what his family life was all
about. What incredible courage on his part, firstly to want
far more than this simple existence and, secondly, to
venture out of this corner of the world and sail to far-away
Australia.

© Uplift Education | Level 1 149-151 George St Liverpool NSW Australia | 1300 929 299 | uplifteducation.edu.au
 A million questions come to mind – how I wish that
Kwong Sue Duk was here right now to answer them. I
would ask him what prompted him to embark on such a
momentous journey; what was going through his mind and
what lay in his soul at the time; I want to know where he
got his pioneering spirit from, and I wonder whether my
sense of adventure can be traced back to him.

Activity 3:

In the form of a personal reflection, evaluate the effectiveness of Kylie Kwong’s reflective and
introspective voice.

In your response, attempt to incorporate at least FIVE of the words learnt in Activity 1. Highlight
these words as you use them. Structure your response in the form of an analytical paragraph. Your
Uplift Mentor will remind you how to do this.

© Uplift Education | Level 1 149-151 George St Liverpool NSW Australia | 1300 929 299 | uplifteducation.edu.au
Let’s brainstorm our response:
Voice and stance:
- Subjective and personal voice à what are your thoughts/opinions

- Look inwards, forwards and outwards

Structure

Language

- First person (personal) à I believe, I thought, I resonated with….

- Thoughtful

- Evaluative (take a stance on the question)

o Have some sort of cause and effect
- Introspective

Purpose

- Review, explore and learn about your own learnings

Response:
DESCRIPTION: Kylie Kwong’s immersive memoir My China encapsulates the zealous
exploration and discovery of her cultural heritage through food.
FEELINGS: I resonated with Kwong’s effective representation of food as a significant
means of cultural connection and belonging.
EVALUATION: There is a wide abundance of reflective techniques that can be formed to
position responders in particular ways.
ANALYSIS:

© Uplift Education | Level 1 149-151 George St Liverpool NSW Australia | 1300 929 299 | uplifteducation.edu.au
 - Within the extract, Kwong has employed the inclusive first person narration in an
anecdotal form to evidently provide the audience with an insightful understanding of
her subsequent interactions in the community which cause identity conflict.
- The characterization of a reluctant figure, clearly expressed through the ellipsis in
“… I make up the recipes as I go along”, reveals how individuals react emotionally to
different stimuli.
- Furthermore, Kwong’s reflective and introspective voice is evident through erh use of
free indirect discourse which indicates her interior thoughts which are differentiated
from her recount. For example in “… I say to myself. This is what living is all about”
CONCLUSION:
The past is a value of experiences – some of which we don’t always want to hold on to. I felt
that Kwong, by transporting and immersing her readers into her memories, creates a critical
backstory which fosters a greater intimacy between us and her experiences. Therefore, to a
great extent, Kwong’s own introspective and reflective compels responders to also consider
the significance of cultural values and heritage to shape one’s sense of identity and
belonging.

Homework:

Reflect on the effectiveness of Kylie Kwong’s use of setting

in assisting us in our own creative compositions. Your
mentor will help you understand this concept.
- Reflect on how Kwong creates an immersive setting
(think about her use of imagery and how she engages
all the senses) and how you will take inspiration from
this

Homework is to be submitted to your Uplift Mentor least 48 hours prior to your next class or in hard
copy if your Mentor requests.

Good luck 😊

© Uplift Education | Level 1 149-151 George St Liverpool NSW Australia | 1300 929 299 | uplifteducation.edu.au