Nectar in a Sieve/The Woman Warrior by Kamala Markandaya/Maxine Hong Kingston

Nectar in a Sieve is a fictional account told in flashback of struggles and endurance in a changing India. Rukmani, the main character, describes the great joys and terrible sorrows of her life as the wife of a tenant rice farmer in a village on the brink of industrial change. Themes address agricultural economy versus industrialization; coping with grinding poverty; the celebration of the power of the human spirit; and the cultural roles of men and women.

The recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award as the best work of nonfiction in 1976, The Woman Warrior describes the author’s youth as the daughter of Chinese laundry workers in California. Kingston desires to be an American but is surrounded by traditions transplanted from China. She shows how Chinese legends of the powerful warrior woman, Fa Mu Lan, contrast with the low regard traditionally given to females. She incorporates vignettes about relatives both in China and in the “Gold Mountain” of America. The account addresses tensions between cultures, genders, and generations; roles of secrecy and truth, fact and imagination; and the search for self.

About the Series:

Novel/Drama curriculum units contain complete lesson plans with preliminary and follow-up work, teacher notes with plot summary, background, and rationale, ready-to-use worksheets, and suggested answers for student questions. These study guides encourage the development of thinking, reading, speaking, research, and writing skills as well as critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.