Write a paragraph in which you analyze how the stories The Invisible Red String and Message in a Bottle update character types and story patterns from older stories. Explain how your analysis helped you understand the modern stories. Cite details from the stories to support your ideas.
“The Invisible Red String” begins with a father who sells his only daughter, Ju-Lin, into slavery so his family won’t go hungry. A matchmaker named Moi-Yun then shows up at their farm and offers to buy the daughter to help her with her duties. After a while of working for Moi Yun, Ju-Lin learns to read and write. On spring morning, a wealthy matron named Madam Yuen comes to the house, seeking help because she is tired of her son’s refusal to get married because his dream girl’s requirements are not met by any of the girls in his station. Ju-Lin is sent to convince him to change his requirements. When she arrives, she starts to tell him that his expectations are unreasonable. Madam Yuen’s son then tells her how he admires Ju-Lin’s looks and intelligence, and tells her that she is the one for him. After this, they prepare for the wedding. The story “Message in a Bottle” focuses on a teenage boy named Christopher Dooley, who escapes his difficult, poor life with a father who abused him and his family, to board the St. John ship to America, with the help of a friend named Blackie. As they are heading to America, the boat begins to sink, as Blackie and Christy are fighting for their lives. Christy manages to toss a bottle containing his St. Christopher’s medal and a flier for the St. John. A year later, a girl and her friends discover the bottle. The girl kept the medal and after 10 years, she met Christopher Dooley. He noticed her wearing the medal, which started a wonderful conversation between the two, and led to 40 years of marriage. Both stories are about young teenagers having to leave their homes because of poverty. But Ju-Lins poverty was caused by a drought, while Christopher’s poverty was caused by his father’s low-paying job.