The Name Jar

The Name Jar

By Yangsook Choi

Grades: K-3

What would you do if you were the new kid in school and your teacher and classmates didn’t know how to pronounce your name? That’s exactly how Unhei feels when she comes to her new school. Unhei moved to the U.S. from Korea and is wants the American kids to like her. On her first day of school, Unhei does not tell the class her name but instead says that she will choose a name by the end of the week. What name will Unhei choose? Will her classmates grow to like her? You’ll have to find out by reading The Name Jar.

Unhei is the new kid at her school. She moved from Korea to the U.S. with her parents. Unhei is worried about whether or not the American kids will like her. She did not want to introduce herself on the first day of school so instead, Unhei tells the class she will pick a name by the end of the week. Her classmates decide to help Unhei out and they fill a jar with names in which Unhei may choose from. When one of her classmates goes to her neighborhood and figures out her name she sees that it is special. When the day comes for Unhei to choose her name, the name jar has coincidently disappeared. With encouragement from her new friends, Unhei decides to choose her own name and helps her classmates to pronounce it the correct way: yoon-hey.

The characters in this story are Unhei, her parents, and her teacher and classmates. The setting in this story takes place at Unhei’s home and school. The problem/solution is that Unhei is nervous that no one will be able to pronounce her name so as a solution she decides to pick a name of her own that everyone will be able to pronounce. Her classmates take a jar and put names in it for her to choose from. The solution occurs when a classmate goes to Unhei’s neighborhood and discovers her true name and realizes that it is special. When it comes for Unhei to choose her name, her classmates encourage her to choose her own. So Unhei keeps her own name and helps her class to pronounce it. The theme of this story is acceptance.

This book is worthy as a representation of a multicultural/culturally diverse book because this book is not what you would call original literature. The author is Asian, the main character is Asian, and in the story the main character is trying to gain acceptance of her peers. This book would give reader’s a peek into the perspective of Unhei and how it feels to move to a country where no one could pronounce your name. This is a book that is applied with Asian culture and the diversity is based on the situation Unhei faced when being the new kid in school. Multicultural books create appreciation and awareness of the uniqueness of diverse cultures. This book is an example of cultural authenticity, meaning that it accurately reflects the experiences and viewpoint of the particular culture. Typically when Asian Americans live in the U.S. they change their names to English names. In this case, Unhei decided to keep her Korean name.

This book would be useful in the classroom because it could be used to bring cultural awareness about diversity to the class. This book could serve as an example of multicultural literature and could be used to analyze how diversity affects those of cultures other than the norm. Introducing your students to diverse authors and books will keep them aware that there are many cultures in the world and that in order to appreciate them we must learn more about them.

This book would be a good book for a classroom library because it could be used to enhance your students knowledge on diversity as well as diverse authors. You could use Unhei’s experience as a prompt to get students to think about some of the issues that people face when they come to the U.S. from other countries. You could ask students to describe how they would feel if they were in Unhei's shoes. Having multicultural/cultural books in the classroom library will promote awareness and appreciation for diverse cultures.

The MA ELA Frameworks for this book are, RL.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters, RI.3.2. Determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea, MA.8.A. Identify elements of fiction (e.g., characters, plot, setting, plot, problem, solution) and elements of poetry (e.g., rhyme, rhythm, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia).