2. Introducing the Story Literary Focus: Theme and Character Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Motivation Feature Menu Cranes by Hwang Sunwŏn translated by Peter H. Lee

4. Which kind of loyalty comes first—loyalty to a friend or to duty? What would you do if you had to choose? Cranes Introducing the Story

5. In “Cranes,” two childhood friends from a war-torn village in Korea meet as adults and find they are on opposite sides in the war. One is a prisoner; the other, his escort and guard. The story follows the thoughts and memories of the main character as he walks with the prisoner. How will the main character treat his prisoner and old friend? Cranes Introducing the Story [End of Section]

6. face overwhelming obstacles Reading a story is often like following a character on a journey. During the journey, characters may make heart-rending decisions learn something about themselves, others, or life in general Cranes Literary Focus: Theme and Character

7. Theme: central idea of the story; a truth or insight about life or human behavior What obstacles does the main character face? What does the main character learn? What decisions must the main character make? What characters experience during their journey often reveals the theme of a work. Cranes Literary Focus: Theme and Character

8. Sŏngsam, the main character in “Cranes,” travels only a short distance on foot, but the journey he takes in his heart and mind is much greater. Cranes Literary Focus: Theme and Character

9. What does Sŏngsam remember and learn during his walk? Ask yourself the following questions as you read the story: What theme does the writer convey? How has the writer used the character’s experiences to communicate the theme? Cranes Literary Focus: Theme and Character [End of Section]

10. To understand characters fully, you need to determine their motivation, or the reasons for their behavior. Writers don’t usually make direct statements about motivation, so you will need to make inferences, or educated guesses. Cranes Reading Skills: Making Inferences about Motivation

11. Inferences About Motivation You can base your inferences on your own prior knowledge and on clues from the story. Prior Knowledge Based on personal experience and other stories you’ve read, what do you know about people and their motivation? Clues from the Story What do the characters do and say that might give insight into their motivations? Cranes Reading Skills: Making Inferences about Motivation

12. As you read “Cranes,” think about why the main character takes the actions he does makes the decisions he makes Cranes Reading Skills: Making Inferences about Motivation [End of Section]

13. The conflict in this story is shaped by the civil war that took place in the early 1950s in Korea, a nation west of Japan and bordering on China and Russia. At the end of World War II, the country was divided in half, at the thirty-eighth parallel of latitude, with Soviet troops occupying the north and U.S. troops occupying the south. Cranes Background

14. There had been plans to reunite the country eventually, but instead, in 1948, a Communist government was established in the north and a pro- Western government was established in the south. In 1950, Communist troops from North Korea invaded the South. They were opposed by soldiers from South Korea, supported by United Nations (mostly U.S.) forces. Cranes Background South Korean flag North Korean flag

15. Cranes Background Ultimately the conflict centered around the thirty-eighth parallel. During the war many villages along the thirty- eighth parallel changed hands several times between North and South Korea. “Cranes” is set in one such village. A large number of Korean civilians and military personnel died during the war, and both North and South Korea suffered great devastation.

16. A truce agreement was signed in 1953, the year “Cranes” was published, and the final military front line of battle became the boundary between North and South Korea. The two countries have still not achieved reunification. Cranes Background [End of Section]

17. Quickwrite

18. Make the Connection Cranes Quickwrite Which is worse: betraying one’s duty or betraying one’s friend? Imagine a situation in which you were forced to make such a choice. What issues would you weigh as you tried to make a decision? Freewrite for a few minutes about this dilemma. [End of Section]

19. Vocabulary

20. Previewing the Vocabulary averted v. used as adj.: turned away. obstruction n.: obstacle; barrier. constitutes v.: makes up; forms. mainstay n.: principal support. refuge n.: shelter; protection from danger or difficulty. Cranes Vocabulary

21. Vocabulary Activity: Analogies Analogy questions ask you to analyze the relationship between one pair of words and then complete a second pair of words. The same relationship must be expressed in the two pairs. Follow the steps on the next slide to complete this word analogy. MOUTH : FACE :: ______ : television a. entertainment b. living room c. telephone d. screen Cranes Vocabulary

22. Vocabulary Activity: Analogies MOUTH : FACE :: ______ : television a. entertainmentb. living roomc. telephoned. screen screen 1.Identify the relationship between the first two words: The relationship is that of a part (mouth) to a whole (face). 2.Use a sentence to see the relationship in the analogy more clearly: A mouth is a part of a face, just as a __________ is a part of a television. 3.Select the word that makes the second pair express the same relationship as the first pair. Choice d, screen, is correct because it refers to a part of a television. Cranes Vocabulary

23. Vocabulary Activity: Analogies RelationshipExample SynonymsTIRED : SLEEPY :: happy : joyous AntonymsRIGHT : WRONG :: few : many Part to wholeLEAF : TREE :: kitchen : house Member to categoryEARTH : PLANET :: truck : vehicle Object (or thing) to a characteristic of it SUN : HOT :: desert : dry Cranes Vocabulary

24. 1. ANNOUNCES : DECLARES :: __________ : forms 2. SUCCEEDED : FAILED :: __________ : faced 3. SKYSCRAPER : TALL :: __________ : safe 4.CONTEST : COMPETITION :: __________ : obstacle 5.PAIL : BUCKET :: __________ : support Vocabulary Activity: Analogies Use a Word Bank word to complete each analogy. avertedobstruction constitutesmainstayrefuge refuge obstruction constitutes averted mainstay Cranes Vocabulary [End of Section]

25. Meet the Writer

26. Hwang Sunwŏn (1915–2000) was born in what is now North Korea. Throughout his lifetime, Korea was torn by political turmoil, and Hwang’s deep responses to that turmoil are reflected in his works. Educated at Waseda University in Tokyo, Hwang has published poetry, seven novels, and some of the best-known short stories of modern Korea. More About the Writer Cranes Meet the Writer [End of Section]