Lesson video

Hi everyone, my name is Ms. Voyle, and welcome to today's reading lesson where we are going to be exploring themes in the legend "Mulan." For this lesson, you need a copy of the 2014 Oxford University Press Edition of "Mulan" written by Michaela Morgan.

Pause the video and get your copy of the book now.

Great, now I know you have the book with you.

During this lesson, you'll need to be listening and looking carefully and there will also be some tasks where you need somebody to talk to.

I hope you are feeling excited and ready to learn.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is I can explore the themes within "Mulan" to infer a moral from the story.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Theme.

Moral.

Gender roles.

Trailblazer.

Great job, well done.

Let's take a look at their definitions.

A theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs within a story.

A moral is a lesson that can be learned from a story or experience.

Gender roles are ways in which girls and boys might be expected to behave differently.

And a trailblazer is a person who is the first to do something, an innovator.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be understanding and identifying themes.

And in the second part of the lesson, we will be exploring themes to infer a moral.

So let's begin with understanding and identifying themes.

The legend of "Mulan." Let's remind ourselves what we know about this story.

The legend of "Mulan" first originated in China over 1,000 years ago.

Michaela Morgan is the author of this version of "Mulan" and Steve Dorado is the illustrator.

"Mulan" tells the story of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to fight in the army.

I am now going to summarise the key events from "Mulan" in my own words.

Mulan expressed worry to her family because the country faced attack and a man from every family was required to join the war.

Mulan decided that her father and brother were not fit to fight and that she must join the army in order to protect them.

Mulan developed a plan to disguise herself as a boy in order to become a soldier and she gathered everything she needed.

Mulan travelled to the army base and struggled with training while living afraid the other soldiers would discover her identity.

Mulan remained committed to her quest and became a fine warrior and leader who fought for her country for 10 years.

As a reward for winning the war, Mulan chose freedom and returned home to her family.

She revealed her identity as a girl to her soldiers and they were in awe of her.

Let's check your understanding.

Which statement best summarises the meaning of the story "Mulan"? A, it tells the story of a girl who disguises herself as a boy.

B, it tells the story of a young girl who loves to fight.

Or C, it tells the story of a young girl who defies expectations of her in order to protect her family.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is C, well done.

"Mulan" tells the story of a young girl who defies expectations of her in order to protect her family.

A theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs within a story.

Within literature, authors use techniques to convey themes to the reader.

These themes are often communicated through problems faced in the story and character traits shown to overcome them.

They can make us consider issues and topics that we encounter in our own lives.

Examples of themes that you might see in stories are friendship, courage, love, family, greed, good v evil, death, protection, right v wrong, survival.

Let's check your understanding.

What is a theme within a story? A, an idea, topic, or message that appears once.

B, the genre that a story belongs to.

Or C, a big idea, topic, or message that recurs.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is C, well done.

A theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs.

Themes are recurring, which means that they appear throughout a story.

You may notice similar themes within a genre.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

Themes are not explicitly stated within a text.

Authors commonly use repetition to convey themes to the reader.

How to identify themes.

We can consider characters' actions and character traits.

We can identify repetition of actions, emotions, or traits.

We can search for deeper meaning using inference skills.

And we can consider the overall message of the story.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? Themes within a text are explicitly stated by the author.

Pause the video and select your answer.

That is false, well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, identifying themes involves using inference to identify underlying messages the author is trying to convey.

Or B, to identify themes you need to retrieve key information from the text.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is A, identifying themes involves using inference to identify underlying messages the author is trying to convey.

Themes are not explicitly written in the story, well done.

We are going to identify the themes within "Mulan." It will help us to consider the purpose of Mulan's quest and the character traits she showed.

The themes within "Mulan" that we could identify are family.

We know that Mulan cares deeply for her family and goes on her quest in order to protect them.

War, we know that China is facing a war and that is the reason that a male from each family is required to join the army, and Mulan decides to go in her father or brother's place.

Gender roles, we know that girls are not meant to be part of the army at this point in China, but Mulan defies this expectation and disguises herself in order to still go.

And deception, we know that Mulan had to deceive others in order to go on her quest.

She had to pretend to be somebody she wasn't.

Some themes are more complex and encourage us to consider their meaning.

Deception is one example of this.

For example, is it always wrong to lie? We often think of lying as always being wrong, but in this story we see Mulan lie for an honourable reason, to protect her family and serve her country.

It's now time for your first task, and it is a talk task.

Discuss which other themes appear throughout the story.

Consider the characters' actions and character traits as well as the overall meaning behind the story.

We have already identified family, war, gender roles, and deception as key themes.

What other themes could you identify? Pause the video and discuss this with your partner now.

Welcome back, I loved listening to your discussions.

You identified such interesting themes.

Let's take a look at some of the examples I had.

We have equality.

The story of "Mulan" certainly makes us consider the ways in which boys and girls are treated differently.

Duty, we see Mulan feel a great sense of duty towards her family and her country.

Protection, Mulan's actions are all driven by the desire to protect her family.

Courage, this is a key theme because it is a trait that Mulan shows throughout the story.

As is resilience.

Mulan demonstrates resilience at various points to succeed in her quest.

Determination is another key theme shown through Mulan's character.

Loyalty, we see Mulan show great loyalty to her country by remaining in the army for so many years, even though she missed her family dearly.

And pride.

At the end of the story, we see Mulan show great pride for who she truly is and feel able to share it with others.

Well done for discussing and identifying themes that appear within the story of "Mulan." It's now time for the second part of our lesson where we will be exploring themes to infer a moral.

A moral is a key feature of legends and other folklore stories.

Legends generally tell tales of characters who demonstrate admirable qualities, conveying an important moral or lesson to the reader.

A moral is a lesson that can be learned from a story or experience.

We can draw conclusions about a moral based on themes that emerge through the character's actions.

Readers may have different interpretations of a text, its meaning or the moral drawn from it.

Exploring themes can help us consider moral views about the world that we live in.

Let's consider how the story of "Mulan" explores gender roles.

The story is set during a time where girls and women are expected to focus on roles within the home.

We see this represented through Mulan's weaving and her mother's cooking at the beginning of the story.

In this setting, only boys and men are allowed to join the army.

Girls and women are not considered capable of being soldiers.

The story challenges this through showing how Mulan is actually more physically and mentally capable of being a soldier than her male family members are.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? Mulan wasn't capable of being a soldier because she was a girl.

Pause the video and select your answer.

That is false, well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, Mulan actually had greater physical and mental capability of being a soldier than her male family members.

Or B, Mulan wasn't capable of being a soldier because she wasn't brave.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is A, well done.

Mulan showed that even though she was a girl, she actually had greater physical and mental capability of being a soldier than her male family members.

This challenged ideas around gender roles.

Exploring themes can also help us consider moral views about the kind of people we want to be.

Identifying admirable qualities and positive themes within a story can inspire us to nurture those qualities within ourselves.

Mulan can be considered a trailblazer.

Let's practise saying that word.

Trailblazer.

Great job.

A trailblazer is a person who is the first to do something, an innovator.

She is the first girl to be a soldier in the army.

What character traits does Mulan possess that allow her to become a trailblazer and challenge gender roles? She shows courage.

This is the ability to do something that frightens you, bravery.

She demonstrates resilience.

This is the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.

And she shows determination.

This is having a firm goal and remaining committed to it.

Through demonstrating these traits, Mulan was able to challenge views on the role that girls and women should play.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? Mulan's courage, resilience, and determination allowed her to become a trailblazer.

Pause the video and select your answer.

That is true, well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, she was the first female warrior and challenged views on the role that girls and women should play.

Or B, she was the first girl to disguise herself as a boy.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is A, well done.

Mulan is considered a trailblazer because she was the first female warrior and she challenged views on the role that girls and women should play.

It's now time for your final task, and it is a talk task.

What moral can we infer from the story of "Mulan"? Consider the character traits Mulan demonstrated to become a trailblazer and challenge gender roles.

Remember, the definition of a moral is a lesson that can be learned from a story or experience.

Your sentence starters are, "I think the moral of the story is.

." "I think the story teaches us a moral about.

." Or, "The moral I infer is.

." Pause the video now to discuss this with your partner and infer a moral from the story of "Mulan." Welcome back, well done for your fantastic partner talk.

It was wonderful to listen to you inferring a moral from the deeper meaning behind the story of "Mulan." Let's take a look at some examples I heard.

Sam said, "I think the moral of the story is a person's abilities should not be judged based on their gender or appearance." This is a fantastic moral to draw from the story.

Mulan showed that just because she was a girl did not mean she was not capable of being a fantastic soldier.

Andeep said, "I think the story teaches us a moral about showing courage and mental strength to overcome difficult circumstances." This is another great lesson that we can learn from the story of "Mulan." Mulan faced many difficult circumstances, but it was her courage and her mental strength that allowed her to overcome them and succeed on her quest.

Jacob said, "The moral I infer is that defying expectations and being a trailblazer may be scary, but sometimes it is the right thing to do." I love this moral because it highlights that being the first person to do something is not always easy, but sometimes it can be the right thing to do, and bravery and courage can help you become a trailblazer.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

A theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs within a story.

Identifying the themes within "Mulan" helps us understand the deeper meaning behind the story.

A moral is a lesson that can be learned from a story or experience.

Key themes such as gender roles and the character traits Mulan shows to become a trailblazer help us infer a moral.

Readers may have different interpretations of a text, its meaning or the moral drawn from it.

Well done for all of your hard work in today's lesson.

I have really enjoyed exploring the deeper meaning of the story of "Mulan" with you.