Page 46 - BB_Textbook

River of Life
“River” as Metaphor of “Family”
The Mekong River flows for nearly three thousand miles, from the Himalaya and
Tibetan Plateau down through lowland
China, Myanmar, Lao, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Vietnam before emptying into the East Sea. Its waters are a source of life and a powerful force of nature. Along its banks, the Oc Eo Civilization was borne two millennia ago. It is the world’s twelfth longest. And it is the tenth largest river in terms of volume.
Viewing the above photographs clockwise: Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) base camp as see from Rongbuk—a Buddhist temple and the highest place on Earth of year-round human habitation; the hydrologic dams planned and built by China; calm waters in Laos; a flooded home in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta; map of the Mekong running through several countries; and Tibetan headwaters.
VOCABULARY
clockwise delicacy habitation impacted literally millennia Qomolangma salination thorniness
Step One. Metaphor: a figure of speech describing a word or phrase; a metaphor refers to an action or object to which it is not literally applicable. For example, “love is a rose.” While “love” is not literally the flower or color “rose,” there are images that come to mind that related “love” to “rose,” such as beauty, sweetness, delicacy ... even thorniness if love is lost.
In this task, think of “families as rivers” and imagine the meanings of both words. They have an original source, obstacles, flow, new resources, and end. The following table aligns common images of both.
Humans can change the natural course of a river. For example, there are now more than twenty Chinese dams altering the flow of the Mekong River, and thus the Delta faces threats of drought, water scarcity, flooding, loss
of alluvial silt for agriculture, impacted fisheries, water pollution, and salination.
Likewise, family events shape its cohesion, lineage, and
future. Family events are sometimes wonderful, nurturing health and happiness. And they are sometimes tragic, bringing pain and sorrow.
Step Two. Gather information. Think of your family’s history. Make a list of significant events—for better, for worse. Take note of your family’s original source, obstacles, flow, and new resources. Where are there
Original source
FAMILIES
Birth, marriage
Death, war, divorce, discord, unemployment Happy relations, good health,
Next generation, new marriages, children Family members die; even a family lineage ends
RIVERS
Headwaters, mountains
Obstacles
Rocks, boulders, dams
Flow
New resources End
Falls, swift waters
Tributaries, rainfall, aquifers Delta empties into sea or ocean
46 CHAPTER 1 | IDENTITY
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