The document provides background information and context for the short story "Cranes" by Hwang Sunwŏn. It discusses the story's themes of loyalty to friends versus duty and the difficult decisions the main character faces. It also provides historical context about the Korean War and the division of Korea. The document prepares the reader to analyze the story's themes and characters and make inferences about their motivations.

1. 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

2. Cranes by Hwang Sunwŏn translated by Peter H. Lee

3. 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

4. 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? [End of Section] Cranes Introducing the Story

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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? [End of Section] Cranes Literary Focus: Theme and Character

9. 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

10. 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? Inferences About Motivation Cranes Reading Skills: Making Inferences about Motivation

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

12. 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

13. 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. South Korean flag North Korean flag Cranes Background

14. 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. Cranes Background

15. 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. [End of Section] Cranes Background

16. Quickwrite

17. Make the Connection 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] Cranes Quickwrite

18. Vocabulary

19. 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

20. 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

21. Vocabulary Activity: Analogies MOUTH : FACE :: ______ : television a. entertainment b. living room c. telephone d. screen screen Identify the relationship between the first two words: The relationship is that of a part (mouth ) to a whole ( face ) . 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. 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

22. Vocabulary Activity: Analogies Relationship Example Synonyms TIRED : SLEEPY :: happy : joyous Antonyms RIGHT : WRONG :: few : many Part to whole LEAF : TREE :: kitchen : house Member to category EARTH : PLANET :: truck : vehicle Object (or thing) to a characteristic of it SUN : HOT :: desert : dry Cranes Vocabulary

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

24. Meet the Writer

25. 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 [End of Section] Cranes Meet the Writer