What are some ideas for a scrapbook on Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan? The scrapbook will be from the point of view of Koly and based on the relationships of the people in the novel,decisions made in dealing with problems, and significant events that affected the character's life. The scrapbook will represent insights and knowledge of the book through the eyes of Koly as well as your interpretations of that character.
Please help give some ideas for the scrapbook .!
Thanks so much !
This is a great topic and rich with ideas. I would say that the following items can be tossed into the scrapbook to represent Koly:
1) A bowl of rice- This would represent the basic staple of food that nourishes an Indian home. At the start of the book, the first images of which she speaks is of rice and how her leaving might be able to provide more space, and presumably, more food for her family.
2) Red powder- This symbolizes the vermillion, or sindoor, that an Indian bride with which she must adorn herself upon being married. The sindoor is the greatest significance of marriage and represents a great deal of importance to Koly.
3) Feather- A single feather represents represents floating from place to place without a home, and at the start, Koly is certainly this. The idea that she is no longer a daughter and entering an unknown world of a wife might be why she could be deemed a "homeless bird."
4) An urn, or sacred container- This represents her dying husband, and the fact that she was only married for the dowry to provide his family a procession to the holy Ganges river. The water from the Ganga can be held in the urn or even the ashes of the husband
5) Strands of long black hair- This can come to symbolize the Ganges River, which is said to be formed from Lord Shiva's long black hair.
6) A reading primer or early textbook children use on how to read- This would represent Koly's father in law's attempt to teacher her how to read, one of the first steps towards her finding a home.
7) Letter from Bombay- This letter signifies Koly's mother in law's desire to leave to Bombay with Koly, a trip that will leave her abandoned in Vrindavan.
8) Something from a rickshaw- This symbolizes Raji, the rickshaw driver who helps Koly when she is abandoned.
9) Holy offerings from a temple- Vrindavan, where Koly is abandoned, is filled with shrines and this would serve to represent a "home," both physical and spiritual, where she will no longer be homeless as she claims her own sense of self.
10) Cloth- Symbolizes Koly's entrance into the workforce as a weaver of textiles and embroidery.
11) Money- Symbolizes her freedom, her new sense of self
12) A nest- Birds are no longer homeless when they have made a nest and Koly has made hers with her new life.