Word Meaning
Vocabulary
Four Olds
Book Application
RACE
100
  • The literal, objective, dictionary definition of a word without any emotional bias.

    • Answer: What is denotative meaning?
100
  • Large, handwritten political posters used by students to criticize and publicly humiliate targets.

    • Answer: What is a dazibao?
100
  • This specific "Old" includes classic literature, traditional paintings, and historical theater.
  • Answer: What is Old Culture?
100
  • The physical action taken by Red Guards in the streets against citizens wearing tight pants or pointed-toe shoes.
  • Answer: What is cutting them open / chopping them off?
100
  • The letter in the framework that requires you to flip the prompt directly into a statement.
  • Answer: What is R (Restate)?
200
  • The emotional weight, feelings, or cultural baggage attached to a word.


  • Answer: What is connotative meaning?
200

The militant youth groups authorized by Chairman Mao to enforce the Cultural Revolution in the streets.


    • Answer: Who are the Red Guards?
200

Traditional respect for family, elders, and personal privacy were labeled as this type of counter-revolutionary thinking.

  • What are Old Ideas?
200
  • For Ji-li, this poster shifted from a neutral technical term into an emotional symbol of isolation and public terror.
  • Answer: What is a dazibao?
200
  • The step where a student must clearly express the core answer to the prompt.
  • Answer: What is A (Answer)?
300
  • Words or phrases that are specific to a particular field of study, historical event, or political system.

What is technical meaning?

300

The technical term used by the Communist Party to proudly describe working-class citizens, meaning pure and strong.

What is proletarian?

300
  • Everyday personal style choices like wearing nice clothes or owning luxury goods fell under this behavioral category.
  • Answer: What are Old Habits?
300
  • To eliminate Old Culture, Red Guards engaged in the public burning of these two types of personal/historical items.
  • Answer: What are classical books and old family photographs?
300
  • The "C" step requires students to provide specific details or text examples, which serves as this.
  • Answer: What is citing evidence?
400

Denotatively, it means information spread to promote a political cause, but it carries a heavily manipulated political connotation.

What is propaganda?

400
  • This historical term carried a terrifyingly negative connotation, branding someone a greedy traitor to the revolution.

    • Answer: What is bourgeois?
400
  • Celebrating the Lunar New Year or honoring ancestors was condemned by the Party as this form of "feudal superstition."
  • Answer: What are Old Customs?
400

Opening a traditional umbrella counted as a political violation because the Party forced it to take on this dangerous type of meaning

  • Answer: What is a negative connotation?
400
  • The final letter of the framework where students must connect the dots and explain why the answer matters.
  • Answer: What is E (Explain the significance)?
500

This type of meaning can shift drastically based on the cultural or political climate, turning neutral words into social weapons.


    • Answer: What is connotative meaning?
500

The hereditary label assigned to families of landlords or capitalists, making them automatic targets for persecution.

What is a black ancestry / black category label?

500

The Party claimed that the Four Olds as a whole directly threatened this specific type of state system.

Communism

500

The extreme choice forced upon children under the category of "Old Ideas," turning them against their own home.

Reporting their parents?

500
  • When writing the final paragraph, specific and emotional words should be included.
  • Answer: What is underlining and circling (or bolding)?
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