Reader Response # 3
February 2, 2011 Ali from 8D
I am responding to Mahatma Gandhi and India’s Independence in World History by Ann Malaspina. I have read 121 pages out of 121 pages. The text is non-fiction.
This is a biography on Mohandas Gandhi. I know this is a biography because the text is on somebody’s life and involves true stories that happened to the person. This biography is from the point of view of Gandhi because it doesn’t really show the point of view of the British who Gandhi was fighting against. I can describe this by using the 5 Ws. Who: I can say that this is pretty much based on Gandhi and his life, but there are brief references to other people like his wife, Kasturbhai Makanji. What: This is a collection of stories from Gandhi’s life and his struggle to get India’s independence. When: This takes place from October 2 1869, when Gandhi was born all the way to the 1950s, when India gets its independence. Where: This usually takes place in India but it also takes place in the places Gandhi travelled to like Africa or England. Why: This biography happened because of Gandhi’s great actions to protect his nation and to get his country’s rights and independence. I actually really enjoyed reading this because I don’t really read many biographies so it was fun trying something new.
Retell
To give a brief overview of Gandhi’s life, Gandhi was born on October 2 1869, and he got married when he was 13 years old. He began his studies in England about law and then he became a lawyer in South Africa. Gandhi returned to India feeling like a stranger in his own country after 22 years. He was a national hero in India for his work on human rights in South Africa. Unfortunately, he was jailed many times because the British thought he was trying to overthrow them because of his writings and speeches. Gandhi was assassinated on January 31 1948. About approximately 2 years later, India gained its independence because of this hero. The big idea was Gandhi and his ways to win without violence, guns or warfare. Gandhi did go through many tough times throughout his life like when he was forced off a train after refusing to go back to the van compartment with the other Indians even though he had a first class ticket. Even with his hardships, Gandhi enjoyed life but he was always fighting for peace. I did find that this got a bit difficult to understand at some points because of the vocabulary used, but I used text clues around the words to understand it or I re-read it a couple of times.
Relate
If I could talk to Gandhi, I would ask him what made him so determined to get peace? Why he didn’t give up even when the odds were against him? I think this is what makes Gandhi such a unique and strong person. Reading this reminded me of wars going on in different parts of the world. It makes me wonder why people can’t stop the senseless violence and win fights and make peace, the right way, the way Gandhi would do, without guns and settle it with words. The time this biography takes place in reminds me of how grateful I should be, to be in a multicultural nation where nobody is discriminated because of their colour, race or religion. It isn’t too long ago when all of this was happening and this reminds me of the great leaders that gave us this life like Gandhi.
Reflect
I think that at some points of this, it could have been more interesting to read if the author put more of her voice and what she thought about what was happening to Gandhi because sometimes it felt a bit boring because it was just straight up facts. The author did write the biography with a lot of detail and it made me feel what Gandhi was feeling like when he got kicked off the train. I liked how there were little quotes on the sides of some pages from Gandhi. I really liked the one that Gandhi sent to Adolf Hitler saying “It is quite clear that you are today the one person in the world who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to the savage state…” because Gandhi always knew what was right and tried the best he could to stop the war Hitler was starting. Illustrations were a big part in this biography as there were a lot of images and maps in this. They were good additions to the book and the helped me understand better with the captions underneath them. As much as this was entertaining to read, I also learned a lot and this will help me a lot on my biography presentation. I learned about India and the British and Gandhi himself and how he became a hero.
I think this is a great book to read if you are interested in biographies and even if you are not, it is still entertaining to read Gandhi's life story!
