Character:
Juno, Grandma, Dad, and Mom.
Setting:
When: At night
Where: outside in the backyard, at school, and at home.
Plot: Juno receives a letter from his grandma but Juno can’t read it because he doesn’t know anything about Korean.
The story “Dear Juno” is written by Soyung Pak, and talks about a boy, Juno, writing letters to his grandma who lives in Korea and doesn’t know English. Juno gets a letter from his grandma who writes in Korean. He really wants to read it. However, he cannot read Korean and his parents are also busy washing dishes. Juno then opens the letter and reads it by himself. Juno understands that grandma has a new cat and names it Juno. Juno then replies letter to grandma by drawing a picture of himself with an airplane. Soon, a very big envelope comes into the mailbox. Inside the envelope is a picture of his grandma sitting with her cat and two kittens, a small toy plane, and a box of colored pencils. Juno realizes that his grandma is coming to visit him. That night, Juno dreams of being in the place where grandma lives. He sees his grandma sipping morning tea.
There are many ways to communicate with people, especially for people who don't speak the same language. When the languages are different among people, they can draw pictures or use small items to express what they want to say. Both Grandma and Juno don't know each other's languages. Grandma writes a letter in Korean with a picture and a dried flower. Juno gets the idea that grandma has a new cat and her own garden. Juno sends back 3 pictures, a picture of mom and dad, a picture of the dog Sam playing underneath the swinging tree, and a picture of himself standing under an airplane in the starry night. Grandma then replies back a letter with a box of color pencils and a toy plane, and a picture of herself. Juno draws himself with an airplane, grandma knows that Juno wants to visit her. When grandma replies Juno with a small toy plane, Juno knows that Grandma is coming to visit him. When Juno receives the box of color pencils, he knows that his grandma wants him to draw more pictures to tell her more about what is going on there. Sometimes people don’t need to write or say anything. All they need to do is just to look at the items they receive and they will understand what they are trying to say. Communication will not be stopped even though people speak different languages.
The family love between grandparents and grandchildren will always exist and never be separated. Taking pictures or having some things that are related to family members is a great way to maintain family love. Grandma lives in Korea, and Juno lives in America. Grandma sends a letter to Juno with a picture of herself and a cat. Grandma explains that she names the cat Juno after her grandson, Juno. When Juno sends a letter to grandma, he also draws a picture of himself to grandma. Later, grandma replies Juno a letter with a picture of herself again with two kittens. Grandma and Juno live in different countries. Both Grandma and Juno miss each other greatly. Because of the long distance and different languages, grandma sends a picture to Juno so Juno can memorize her face. Juno also draws a picture of himself so grandma knows how he looks now. Grandma names her cat Juno, and she pretends the cat is Juno and Juno is always with her. The love between grandma and Juno is very strong even though they are very far away or they cannot speak the same language. Family love will always find a way to keep the love ones together.
When people are writing a story, they can use professional writing skills to make beautiful sentences to engage the readers. A beautiful sentence means the sentence is long, the author uses writing skill of simile, using the word like, and the description of the things such as color is very detailed. At the end of the story, the author writes “And when he dreamed that night, he dreamed about a faraway place, a village just outside Seoul, where his grandmother, whose gray hair sat on top of her head like a powdered doughnut, was sipping her morning tea.”. The author also writes “Crisp enough to crackle, he dreams, like the golden leaves which cover the persimmon garden”. The author, Soyung Pak, writes long sentences with detailed descriptions. When the author describes things, she uses the word “like” to present things. For example, when she describes grandma’s bun on her head, she writes “powdered doughnut”. This writing makes readers picture what grandma looks like in their minds. From the word “powdered doughnut”, the reader further knows that grandma’s hair is white. When the author writes beautiful sentences, the readers will want to engage more in reading and they can make a mind movie.
The story “Dear Juno” is a touching and warm story. From reading this story, I learned that people don’t need to speak the same language to communicate. People can use pictures or small items to express what they want to say. Also, family love between grandparents and grandchildren is so powerful so it could overcome difficulties, such as long distance or different language. Having a picture of the whole family is a great way to maintain family love. In addition, I learned the writing skills of using simile or using professional words to tell the reader what’s the color or what’s the season. This story really connects to me because the description between Juno and his grandma is very similar to the interaction between my grandparent and me, which makes me look at the pictures of my whole family and think of my grandparents even more.
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