Grade 7 Language and Literature 

Unit Three: “Bamboo People: a novel study”  

Name _________________ 

 
 
“Great doctors must understand 
human nature in order to heal it” 
(Perkins, Bamboo People, p5) 
 
 
Synopsis 
Narrated by two teenaged boys on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government 
and the Karenni, one of Burma’s many ethnic minorities, this coming-of-age novel takes place against 
the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. 

Chiko isn’t a fighter by nature. He’s a book-loving Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for 
resisting the government. Tu Reh, on the other hand, wants to fight for freedom after watching 
Burmese soldiers destroy his Karenni family’s home and bamboo fields. Timidity becomes courage and 
anger becomes compassion when the boys’ stories intersect. 

Aims of the Unit 

During the course of this unit students will: 
● Build an appreciation for literature and recognise the importance of becoming a lifelong reader 
● Develop collaborative skills through literature circle roles 
● Build on our bank of literary devices 
● Develop an appreciation of how authors use literary devices to influence their audiences 
● Develop how we organise our ideas into complex sentences, and paragraphs 
● Build on language usage 
● Develop creative writing skills 
● Learn to take on responsibility within a group with the aim to succeed 
 
Key Concept 
Connections: what are the bonds that link us all together.  
 
Related Concepts 
Context: the social, historical and cultural circumstances of Myanmar, where our story is set. 
Themes The central ideas of compassion, conflict and humanity Perkins explores through her novel. 
Narrative tone: the writer’s attitude towards the themes and subjects brought up in their story 
 
Global Context 
Identities and Relationships: to what extent is one’s identity shaped by their relationships with others  
 
Statement of Inquiry 
“Great doctors must understand human nature in order to heal.” (Mitali Perkins, Bamboo 
People, p5)  
 
Approach to Learning Skills 
Collaboration: 
● Practice empathy  
● Delegate and share responsibility for decision-making  
● Help others to succeed  
● Take responsibility for one’s own actions  
● Manage and resolve conflict and work collaboratively in teams  
● Build consensus  
● Make fair and equitable decisions  
● Listen actively to other perspectives and ideas  
● Negotiate e ectively  
● Exercise leadership and take on a variety of roles within groups  
● Give and receive meaningful feedback  
● Advocate for one’s own rights and needs  

 
 Beginner  Learner  Practitioner  Expert 

You are starting  You sometimes  You make solid  You make valuable 
understand how to be  contribute to the  contributions and  contributions and 
an active member of a  success of the group,  actively seek the ideas  actively seek and reflect 
group, however you  however, at times, you  of others.   on the ideas of others. 
still need to be reminded 
need to be more 
to share your own ideas    
accepting of the ideas 
or ask others for theirs. 
of others and be more    
willing to contribute 
your own ideas. 

 
Critical Thinking Skills: 
● Gather and organize relevant information to formulate an argument  
● Recognize unstated assumptions and bias  
● Evaluate evidence and arguments  
● Draw reasonable conclusions and generalizations  

Beginner  Learner  Practitioner  Expert 

You are starting to find  You are able to gather  You gather and  You gather and 
relevant evidence from  and evaluate evidence  evaluate relevant  evaluate relevant 
the text, speculating on  from the text,  evidence from the text,  evidence from the text, 
how the author is trying  speculating with some  draw conclusions about  draw sophisticated 
success on how the 
to influence her  how the author is trying  conclusions about how 
author is trying to 
audience, and trying to  to influence her  the author is trying to 
influence her audience, 
use this when giving  and use this when giving  audience, and use this to  influence her audience, 
opinions in literature  opinions in literature  formulate arguments in  and use this to 
circle discussions and  circle discussions and  literature circle  formulate well 
written assessment  written assessment  discussions and written  structured arguments in 
tasks.  tasks.   assessment tasks.  literature circle 
discussions and written 
assessment tasks. 

 
Lines of Inquiry 
Factual: 
1. What are some of the bonds that exist between humans? 
2. How do our bonds influence the decisions we make? 
3. How are bonds formed? 
 
Conceptual: 
1. What does it mean to be compassionate/to show humanity? 
  
Debatable: 
1. Are some bonds stronger than others? Explain. 
2. What are the strongest bonds of all? 
3. To what extent is one’s identity shaped by one’s relationships with others? 

 
Assessment: Objectives Assessed 
 
Objective A: Analysing 
o How well you identify the context of the story, literary devices and techniques used by the writer 
o How well you identify and explain how the author is trying to influence their audience 
o How well you justify your ideas with examples and explanations using the correct terminology 
 
Criterion B: Organising 
o How well you organize your ideas into paragraphs that serve the purpose 
o How well you structure the sequence of events into a logical order  
o How well you keep your audience interested by writing in a clear and logical manner 
o How well you format the quotes you use as evidence 
 
Criterion C: Producing Text 
o How well you are to create vivid images in the reader’s mind through use of sensory language  
o How well you use descriptive details that o er insight into significant events and feelings 
o How well you are able to impact your audience through your stylistic choices 
o How well you provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences 
and events 

Criterion D: Using Language 

o How well you use appropriate and varied vocabulary and sentence structures 
o How well the narrative style you select serves the purpose 
o How well you follow the conventions of writing and orating (use of correct grammar, syntax, 
spelling, punctuation and pronunciation) 
 

 
Summative Assessment Tasks 
 
Task 1: Literature Circle Analysis 
Criteria A, B and D 
Written analysis of a selected scene from Bamboo People. You will be given a key scene from the novel 
in class. Working as a literature circle group you will discuss a) the significance of the scene, b) the 
literary devices used by Mitali Perkins to magnify the significance of the scene, c) how Perkins develops 
the themes of the story through the scene, and d) how Perkins has shown us her own attitude toward 
the events of the scene. Note taking will be permitted using the provided note-taking sheet.  

You will then be given an 80minute class to answer questions on the scene using their notes, in the 
PEEAL method, under test conditions. 

Task 2: Write a 350-500 word memoir: a memoir is a story that describes a memorable experience 
or time period in a person’s life. 
Criteria B, C and D 
In this unit you will have read about characters who have faced challenging and life threatening 
experiences that have changed their lives and the way they look at the world. In class we have 
discussed how our connections with others and the world around us have developed who we are as 
people. You will be asked to think of the memorable experiences you have had in your lives, chose one, 
and write about it. The task: write a 350-500 word memoir about an event that has been meaningful to 
you. Be sure to be wary of the importance of establishing the context.  

 
 

 
 
Map from the bbc.co.uk: 
http://cbrtn.org/people/ 
 

 
Language Features Glossary: 
 
How does the writer create tension and suspense (i.e. use of short sentences, creating a sense 
of inevitability, isolated setting, etc.) 

Literary Device  Definition 

Direct Characterisation  When the author tells what the personality of the character is. 
 
Eg. 
 

Indirect  The author reveals the character’s personality through speech, thoughts, 
Characterisation  actions, looks and e ects on other characters. 
 
Eg. 
 

Narrative Tone  The author reveals their attitude towards their subject and tries to 
transfer those feelings to readers. 
 
Eg.  
 

Narrative Mood  What the reader feels while reading the scene/story - it is not the 
reader’s emotions but the atmosphere the author creates. 
 
Eg. 
 

Dramatic Visualisation  The gestures and dialogue of the characters used to make a scene more 
visual and realistic to the audience. 
 
Eg.  
 

Dramatic Imagery  The author’s use of descriptive features to form a strong mental image of 
a scene or setting. 
 
Eg. 
 

Symbolism  Something that stands for or suggests something else.  

 
Eg. 
 

Paradox  An idea that contains two conflicting concepts. For example, you need to 
spend money to make money, a rich man is no richer than a poor man, 
you shouldn’t go into the water until you know how to swim, I can resist 
anything but temptation. 
The point of a paradox is to point out the truth. 
 
Eg.  
 

 
 Dramatic Irony  The character is unaware of the important information that has already 
been revealed to the audience. 
 
Eg. 
 

Situational Irony  The issue here is between what is expected and what is actualised. For 
example, in the Curse of the Claw the Whites wish for £200, they get the 
money, but not in the way they wanted. 
 
Eg.  
 
 
 
Di erent types of characters from the archives of Unit Two  
 
Protagonist  The major, or central, character. 
Eg. 

Antagonist  The main opponent of the central character. 

Eg. 

Flat  Flat characters are stereotypes like the mean teacher, the polite 
teacher’s pet, the video game loving boy. They have a single 
characteristic, trait or idea, a small number of such qualities; they are not 
developed. 
Eg. 

Round  Complex, multi-dimensional and developed characters, embodying a 

number of characteristics, traits or ideas. Like a sporty student who loves 
studying, the kind old lady who like stealing things, or the mean teacher 
who likes to feed the birds. 
Eg. 

Static  Characters who do not change in outlook throughout the story. 

Eg. 

Dynamic  Characters who change, or develop, in outlook as a result of conflict. 

Eg. 

Foils  Characters paired, or intentionally set o , against other characters to 

compare and contrast their development, or qualities. 
Eg. 

 
 
 
 
 
  
 

 
Literature circle roles 
 
 
Please note: if you have not completed your role and prepared for our literature circle 
sessions, you will be asked to spend the whole lesson completing all the sections alone.  
 
The director:  The Summariser: 
   
It is your job to lead the discussion  It is your job to give a summary of 
and introduce the section to be  what has occurred in the section 
discussed.   under review. The summary needs 
  to be a paragraph of 3-4 
You must:  sentences written as an omniscient narrative.   
● keep the discussion going 
● introduce each person, and have them 
complete their role 
● make sure that everybody participates 
 
 

The question master:  The quote picker: 

   
It is your job to come up with 3 open ended,  It is your job to find 3 significant quotes from the 
interesting and relevant questions to discuss.. You  reading. You will need to 
need to ask questions that will get the group  explain why and how these 
sharing their thoughts  quotes are relevant and 
and opinions about the  important to the story. 
book.  Make sure to include page 
Why do you think………  and paragraph number. 
What do you think   
about ……...   
 
What would you do if … 
 
 

The literary observer:  The connector: 

   
It is your job to find 3 literary  It is your job to connect the text to other things. 
devices from our glossary used  You may find something in the 
by the author to build meaning  writing that you can relate to: 
or make the text more interesting  ● your own experiences 
to read, and explain how the  ● another story/film 
author has used them and for  ● real world events 
what purpose..  

 
 
 
 
 
Writing a memoir 
A memoir is a story that describes a memorable experience or time period in a person’s life. 
 
A successful memoir: begins with a captivating headline that clearly establishes the situation; contains a 
well-structured event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically; uses descriptive details that o er 
insight into significant events and feelings; creates vivid images in the reader’s mind through use of 
sensory language; provides a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences 
and events. 
 
TASK: think of some memorable experiences you have had in your life, chose one, and write about it. 
You are required to write a 350-500 word narrative about an event that has been meaningful to you. Be 
sure to be wary of the importance of establishing the context.  
 
   
PEEAL Discussion Topics 
 
1.   In her author’s note, Mitali Perkins writes that her interactions with the Karenni people 
she met along her travels in Thailand led her to think of the bamboo plant as “an 
excellent symbol for the peoples of that region.” What are some of the things that 
bamboo is used for?  
 
2. Daw Widow is a strong-willed character treated with a great amount of respect by 
Chiko and his mother. She ultimately convinces Chiko’s mother that her son should go to 
take the teacher’s exam, despite the fact that it may be a trap. Why does Daw Widow’s 
opinion hold so much weight? Why does she change her mind about Chiko’s future? 
 
3. When Chiko’s father was captured, he called out, “Take care of your mother, Chiko!” (p. 
6) Although Chiko replied that he would, he does not think that he has kept that promise. 
In what ways has Chiko taken care of his mother? In what ways has he not? Do you 
think Chiko has kept his promise, or has he failed? Why or why not? 
 
4. Chiko carries around the pictures of his father and neighbor, Lei, during his time in the 
Burmese army. Why are these objects so important to him? What do they symbolize? 
Do you have any objects in your own life that have helped you through a di cult 
situation? 
 
5. During his first days in the Burmese army, Chiko keeps telling himself, “Mind your own 
business. Keep out of trouble. Stay alive. One day at a time.” (p. 39, 47). He believes the 
only way to survive is to keep to himself and obey his captors. Does this opinion change 
as time goes on? If so, what prompts this change? 
 
6. When Tai declares that Chiko had nothing to do with the idea to use bu alo to finish the 
daunting task of clearing the river, the captain sends Tai to confinement. Chiko thinks, 
“It’s done. Tai is going to confinement, and I’m not. So why do I feel like the one who’s 
condemned?” (p. 82) What do you think of Chiko at this point in the book? What do you 
think of Tai? Have you ever been in a situation like this? Which character were you, and 
how did you feel? 
 
7. Chiko teaches Tai how to read and write while they are both in the Burmese army. What 
does Tai teach Chiko? How is Tai an inspiration to Chiko? How does he help Chiko get 
through each day in the training camp? 
 
 
 8. Initially, Chiko sees Tai as uneducated but realizes that Tai has knowledge and skills that 
have enabled him to survive, whereas Tai initially thinks that Chiko’s knowledge and 
skills are not very practical. (p.56) Who are you more like: Chiko or Tai and what is the 
value in having the knowledge and skills that you have? Would you rather have the 
other knowledge and skills? Why or why not? 
 
9. When the captain chooses Tai for a “secret mission,” Chiko steps forward to take his 
place (p. 123). Why do you think Chiko made this decision? What do you think Tai 
thought and felt? What do you think the other boys watching and listening thought and 
felt? 
 
10. (p.123) “Send Tai to Yangon instead of me.” Why do you think Chiko made this decision? 
How do you think he felt? What do you think Tai thought and felt? What do you think the 
other boys watching and listening thought and felt?  
 
11. Do you think the Captain especially targeted Chiko and Tai? Why or why not? 
 
12. Do you agree that, “[a] man full of hatred is like a gun … he can be used for only one 
purpose, to kill”? Why or why not? 
 
13. What are Peh’s reasons for wanting his son, Tu Reh, to join him on the mission? When 
they find Chiko, Tu Reh says to his son, “I won’t command you, my son. A Karenni man 
must decide for himself. Leave him for the animals. End his life now. Or carry him to the 
healer. It’s your choice.” (p. 149) Do you think Peh wants Tu Reh to make a certain 
choice? Why or why not? 
 
14. How do Chiko and Tu Reh develop throughout the course of the book? How are these 
changes displayed? What do we learn about these boys through the other characters, 
as opposed to through their first-person narratives? 
 
15. Both Chiko and Tu Reh’s fathers are absent from most of the book, but we do learn a lot 
about them through other characters, their sons in particular. How are these fathers 
di erent? How are they similar? 
 
16. Education is very important to Chiko. He wants to be a teacher, and he believes that if 
Tai learns to read and write, it will help his sister, an orphan in Yangon. While listening to 
the captain talk about the Karenni as “rebels” and “insurgents,” Chiko thinks, “I’ve been 
taught not to believe anything the government says about the tribal people. But the 
other new recruits didn't have someone to tell them the truth. All they have is this 
captain’s version.” (p. 48) Meanwhile, Tu Reh feels that education is a waste of time. How 
do these di erent views on education a ect Tu Reh and Chiko’s perspectives of the 
world? Are these di ering perspectives due to the education each boy received, or are 
they just a result of their individual circumstances? Or both? 
 
17. Ree Meh’s reluctance to go to school reminds us that while the characters in this book 
are placed in di cult and dangerous situations, most of them are just children. What 
other instances in the book remind us of this fact? How would you respond to the events 
in the book if you were Tu Reh, Chiko, or one of the other children? 
 
18. Throughout the second part of the book, the people in the refugee camp where Tu Reh 
lives keep referring to Chiko as “[Tu Reh’s] soldier.” Tu Reh is very bothered by this. Why? 
Why did he decide to save Chiko after all? 
 

 
 19. Nya Meh has been through a terrible ordeal. Captured by Burmese soldiers, she 
su ered verbal and physical assaults that are only hinted at in the book. Despite this, 
she is dedicated to healing Chiko. Why do you think she is able to do this? What role 
does her ordeal play in Tu Reh and Sa Reh’s reconciliation? 
 
20. The Grandfather reads a well-known passage from the Bible (pp.170-171), Ecclesiastes 
3:1-8: 
 
There is a right time for everything: 
A time to be 
A time to kill, a time to heal; 
A time to cry, a time to laugh; 
A time to grieve, a time to dance; 
A time for scattering stones, a time for gathering stones; 
A time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing; 
A time to find, a time to lose; 
A time for keeping; a time for throwing away; 
A time to tear, a time to repair; 
A time to be silent, a time to speak; 
A time for loving, a time for hating; 
A time for war, a time for peace. 
 
This prayer was made into a song in the 1960s (written by Pete Seeger and made famous by 
The Byrds). What does this prayer/song mean to you? Does it remind you of anything? 
 
 
 

Bibliography 
 
1. “Who are Burma’s minority groups?” www.BBC.co.uk. On-line News Network, 18 November 
2010. 
2. Perkins, Mitali, Kelley McDaniel and Charlesbridge. “Bamboo People: Discussion and Activity 
Guide.” Charlesbridge.com , copyrighted by Carol Chu, 2010. 
3. Merissa. (Merissa19). (March, 8, 2012). Bamboo People (Video file). Retrieved from 
http://youtu.be/IRkNHs74T_E  
4. McDaniel, Kelley. “Bamboo People: Discussion Guide.” www.bamboopeople.org, 2010. 
5. Book Rags. “Bamboo People – Summary and Analysis.” 
www.bookrags.com/studyguide-bamboo-people/ , copyrighted by BookRags Inc., 2015. 
6. CBRTN Board. "Who Are the Ethnic Minorites?" http://cbrtn.org/people/. Colorado-Burma 
Roundtable Network. CBRTN, n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2016.