A Brief History of the Vietnam War Note: This is background history for people reading the story My Country and the Way to America written by a child who escaped Vietnam on a boat and was finally settled in America, and using the Stone Soup teaching resource associated with it. Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. It borders China, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. In the mid-1800s France conquered Vietnam along with Thailand and Cambodia. This area of French control was called French Indochina. Vietnam was therefore a French colony. 88 During World War II (1940-1945) the Japanese controlled Vietnam. After the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 French Indonesia broke up into its separate countries and in Vietnam a new war started because the French tried to reassert their control over Vietnam. Too many people in Vietnam wanted independence. The French were defeated in 1954 and withdrew from Vietnam. The story is a more complicated than this, but for a basic introduction to the Vietnam War, th war that began against the French continued after their defeat and their eventual replacement by the United States as the foreign power fighting for control of Vietnam. The United States was not trying to make Vietnam a colony, but as the victor in the war against the Japanese the Americans were looking for as much of Asia as possible to be friendly to the United States. At this time much of the world was dividing into two political camps — Capitalism where private property was the rule — and Communism where the government owned most or all of the property. Vietnam was moving towards Communism and the United States did not want that to happen. In 1973, when I was just finishing college, the United States was defeated and Vietnam became an independent country. As it has turned out communism itself changed and became more capitalistic. The US is now friendly with Vietnam. There is peace between these two former enemies. The story of the Vietnam War is long and complex. You can read about it in the Wikipedia. You may also want to look for books sin the library and discuss the war with your parents. Many Americans have very strong views about the American involvement in Vietnam. There are some who think it was a very good idea and are sorry for the American defeat. Many others think it was an awful idea, and are glad the war ended. During the time of the war there were many demonstrations in the United States against it. By the time the war ended a majority of the American people were opposed to the wear. This said, the Vietnam War stirs up strong emotions in the United States, and in other countries as well. What is important to understand for this project is that in the end, whatever the merits of war that may be declared by governments and politicians, children and their families always become the majority of victims. Wars, and in this case the end of a war, often leads to huge numbers of people fleeing. After the American defeat large numbers of Vietnamese were desperate to leave Vietnam and many escaped the country illegally on boats. Today, when I write this, it is May, 2016. One million people fled wars to Europe last year, most of them at one point in their journey crossed water on substandard boats. As I write this, boats like those described in one of the stories here are on the Mediterranean Sea heading to Europe. Many people end up drowning as do people in the story, “My Country and the Way to America.” Escape under terrible circumstances from war and its consequences is, unfortunately, something that is a universal characteristic of all wars.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Selfie Contest Winners, Fall 2016
Nathaniel Canon, 7, California Self Portraits These are the winners of our first Selfie Contest. Never in history have so many people taken so many photographs of themselves as we are doing now. I think many of us think of “selfies” as self-indulgent throw-away pictures. But that is not what you sent me. What you sent in were thoughtful photographs. I want to thank everyone who participated in this contest. There wasn’t a single entry that did show an effort being made to use the humble selfie as a venue for meaningful self-expression. There is clearly lots more that can be done with selfies. I will run this contest again. Special thanks to the parents who worked with their children to help them realize their visions. As with a lot of great art — pieces that may look spontaneous, were not. I could write about these pictures for hours! Enjoy! And, again, thank you for participating. The winners are: Katie Sohacki, 13; Oliver Girouard, 13; Annie Melkote, 11; Lucy Humble, 11; Peyton Jacobe, 11; Darrius Canon, 11; Sophia Lee Bartolini, 11, Nathaniel Canon, 7. Each of the prize winners receives $10, our thanks for participating, and our congratulations for a job well done. “Bohemian,” Katie Sohacki, 13, North Carolina “Slipping on a Banana Peal,” Oliver Girouard, 13, Washington “Rise,” Annie Melkote, 11, New Jersey “Me in a Tree With Jazz Hands,” Lucy Humble, 11, New York “Halloween Night,” Peyton Jacobe, 11, Texas Untitled, Darrius Canon, 11, California “100 Me’s,” Sophia Lee Bartolini, 11, New York Untitled, Nathaniel Canon, 7, California
Writing Activity: novels in the form of letters, inspired by Jane Austen’s childhood writing
Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the the greatest novelists to have written in English. Her novels are still widely read and have been adapted into movies and television series. Jane Austen began writing as a child, and now, finally, some of these childhood writings have been adapted into movies. Whit Stillman’s 2016 movie Love and Friendship borrows its title from the work of the same name, written when Jane Austen was fourteen, but is actually based on Lady Susan, a novel that Austen probably wrote when she was nineteen although it was not published until much later. Both works are “epistolary” novels–novels written in the form of an exchange of letters. This form was common in the eighteenth century as the novel developed into a popular form of writing, and even one of Austen’s more famous works, Sense and Sensibility, began its life as an epistolary novel. Another famous novel of the period, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782) by Pierre Laclos, is also written in the form of letters, and in the end it is the discovery of one of the secret sets of correspondence that creates the climax of the story. That story, too, has been adapted into many theatre and movie versions including a version where the action is transported to a group of teenagers in New York City (Cruel Intentions, 1999). Today, with the resurgence in correspondence through texting and email, the epistolary story is a format that once again makes sense for young writers. One of the things that is exciting about a novel written in the form of letters is the scope it gives for the writer to unwittingly reveal themselves through the style and content of the letters the author has them write. There is no all-knowing narrator in the middle of the action ready to intervene to tell the reader who the characters really are, what the other perspectives might be, or what to look for. The writers of the letters (the characters) have to tell us everything themselves, without seeming aware that they are doing so. The characters who have to tell us, by telling the people they write to, where they are, what has happened, and how they feel–all of which might be different depending on who they are writing to (imagine: even if you are not inventing things, you would probably write a different letter to your best friend about how things are going and what you have been doing at summer camp than you would to your teacher or your grandparents). The skill of the author is, partly, devoted to giving the writers of the letters their own authentic voices, while at the same time making sure they (accidentally) give themselves away in the little hints they drop or the ways they tell their version of a story. It’s a form that you can really have fun with. Writing activity: Create a scenario with at least two characters and a problem, and choose a contemporary form of letter writing as your style: it could be text messages, emails, postcards, greetings cards, notes on school worksheets, or a combination of these and any other forms you can think of. Write at least 5 letters or messages from each of the characters to the others. Each one should reveal something about the action–carry it forward in some way–and reveal more information to the reader about the character, personality, and role in the action of the writer of the ‘letter’. Why not consult our pages on Juvenilia for links to some of the great authors’ juvenilia, and watch some clips of the movies we have mentioned. You can also read some stories published in Stone Soup, such as “Kisses from Cécile” based on a real correspondence; a piece of historical fiction, “Julius’s Gift”, where letters are both part of the action and part of the narrative, and more recent ones like The Red and Blue Thread which incorporate text messaging great effect. The full movie can be rented from Amazon.com and from Curzon Cinemas.
