Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Summary and Reading Log Chapter 1 - Birth Chapter 1 goes through the traditional birthing methods and traditions of the Hmong people. One of the most significant traditions is burying the placenta. The placenta has to be strategically buried in a specific spot under the homes dirt floor or when the person dies its soul has to travel back to the placenta. This chapter also introduces the characters Nao Kao and Foua Lee. Nao is husband and father of 13 children (some of which died at an early age). Foua is the mother and wife.
In the first chapter Nao gives birth to Lia Lee in an American hospital, their first child to be born in a hospital. Lia was born July 19, 1982. The baby appeared to be healthy and was released from the hospital 3 days later. The main focus of this chapter is comparing the birth of the children in Laos (where Nao and Foua were from) to the American birthing traditions
Chapter 2 - Fish Soup
This chapter explains different people’s perspectives of the Hmong people and the history of the Hmong. The Chinese people thought of Hmongs as dirty, barbaric humans. The Chinese people were not accepting of the Hmong and eventually the Hmong had enough of China and many Hmong migrated. Two very important traits of the Hmong that are expressed in this chapter are that they don’t like to take orders or to lose. The main point of this chapter is to give some background knowledge on who Hmongs are and why many of them migrated. The reason this chapter is called fish soup is because a Hmong boy is giving a presentation on how to make fish soup and spends all of his time explaining all the things you need to do before you make the soup then that actual recipe. This represents a lot about Hmong culture because it is said that if a Hmong tells a folktale he would begin with the very beginning of the world. Chapter 3 - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
This chapter introduces the beginning of Lia’
In the first chapter Nao gives birth to Lia Lee in an American hospital, their first child to be born in a hospital. Lia was born July 19, 1982. The baby appeared to be healthy and was released from the hospital 3 days later. The main focus of this chapter is comparing the birth of the children in Laos (where Nao and Foua were from) to the American birthing traditions
Chapter 2 - Fish Soup
This chapter explains different people’s perspectives of the Hmong people and the history of the Hmong. The Chinese people thought of Hmongs as dirty, barbaric humans. The Chinese people were not accepting of the Hmong and eventually the Hmong had enough of China and many Hmong migrated. Two very important traits of the Hmong that are expressed in this chapter are that they don’t like to take orders or to lose. The main point of this chapter is to give some background knowledge on who Hmongs are and why many of them migrated. The reason this chapter is called fish soup is because a Hmong boy is giving a presentation on how to make fish soup and spends all of his time explaining all the things you need to do before you make the soup then that actual recipe. This represents a lot about Hmong culture because it is said that if a Hmong tells a folktale he would begin with the very beginning of the world. Chapter 3 - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
This chapter introduces the beginning of Lia’