Was there ever a time in your life when you went through a devastating change? Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang is a memoir about her experience with the cultural revolution. Ji-li overcame a big change from the beginning, before the cultural revolution, to after the cultural revolution. She changed from being hopeful and cheery, to feeling dejected. At the beginning of Ji-li's story, she often felt very hopeful and cheerful. The text states, "They hoped that I would be the happiest girl in the world. And I was," (p.2-3). Ji-li tells us just how happy she really was. This shows how optimistic Ji-li was about her life. An influence on her happiness was her success and loving family. At this point in the story, Ji-li fully supported the cultural …show more content…
According to paragraph 34 of chapter 1, Ji-li's father states, "'Ji-li, the fact is that our family will not be able to pass these investigations,” he said. 'And you will not be allowed to be a member of a Liberation Army performing troupe.'" The political background of Ji-li's family prevented her from participating in the Liberation Army performing troupe, which she had been very proud of herself for being chosen to audition for. It was around this point that Ji-li began to question the new rules and her own family's history. In paragraph 38 of the text, Ji-li says, "'I want to do it. I want to try this. What will I tell Principal Long? And my classmates. I wailed. Ji-li shows concern because she is unsure of how she will explain to her schoolmates why she will not be auditioning, Furthermore, Ji-li expresses dejection when she cried and exclaimed how much she wanted to participate, but then was denied by her father to hide the fact that her grandfather was a landlord, who was classified to be an exploiter. Overall, Ji-li was very optimistic before the events of the cultural revolution, and changed to be sorrowful and