Pearl S. Buck

1
Pearl S. Buck

• Born in W. Virginia while her parents were in
  U.S. on leave from missionary work in China
• Grew up in China and spoke both English and
  Chinese
• Attended college in the U.S.
• Went back to China to teach but eventually
  returned to Bucks County, PA

2
Pearl S. Buck contd.

• Became active in promoting womens rights and
  child welfare, and condemning racism
• Wrote novels, short stories, and essays, many of
  which are set in China

3
Background of Story

• Buck experienced giving the gift of love just
  like the main character in story.
• While in China there was a great famine and
  rather than spending money on a big feast for
  themselves and many presents, she and her family
  bought rice for the starving peasants and spent
  Christmas Day feeding the hungry

4
Flashback

• A scene within a story that interrupts the
  sequence of events to relate events that have
  happened in the past.
• Allows the reader to compare and contrast the
  past and the present

5
Sequence of Events

• Is the order in which things happen in the story
• Author uses such words as first, before, later,
  and eventually to let you know which events
  happened first, next and last