12.
identify a theme in dragonwings. analyze and explain how the author developed the theme
over the course of the novel through the characters and plot. be sure to use evidence from the
beginning, middle, and end of the story to support your ideas.

As for me the main theme  in Dragonwings is “Family Separation and Devotion”

This novel begins with Moon Shadow living in the Middle Kingdom with his mother without knowledge of the man who is his biological father. Moon Shadow knows stories his mother has told about his father, but he has never met him because the financial nature of their country has forced many of the men to move to America to make the money they need to support their families in the Middle Kingdom. It is a difficult situation made harder for Moon Shadow's mother when her husband arranges for the child to join him in America. Moon Shadow's mother is left the only person strong enough to work the farm, leaving her to struggle without the support of a man or a son around.

explanation:

the intellectual community is a place like a university where people with high marks, or original thought or an outstanding interest in something gather. they take classes together. they discuss things. they argue sometimes, and not always in a friendly way. but if they argue, it is because they are passionate about something, and there is nothing the matter with that.

lately i've been hearing rumors that it is not the way it was when i went to school. the one thing all schools used to have was free speech. the 1st amendment rights were sacred. now i'm hearing they are not. students can be reported and disciplined for giving an off the wall opinion.

that is shameful.

intellectual ideas are meant to be discussed. they are meant to be chewed up and worked on. that is the primary responsibility of every intellectual community. if that is not the way it is, then that is not a school to go to.

social media, in my opinion, and this is just an opinion. i wouldn't take it too seriously, complicates everything to do with human communication. you can want to share things and others feel they have the right to be very critical or sarcastic or mean about what you share. lack of respect is an immeasurable intolerable condition and social media abounds with that sort of thing.

one of the things i really like about is how careful people are because they must have some idea that the mods are exactly what the word says they are. they police this board very well, and what is so remarkable about them is that they are no older than the average grade 12 student.

my hat goes off to them (which means i respect them quite a bit).