Compare, for example, life on the Mississippi in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn with life on the Yangtze in John Hersey's A Single Pebble. Current relevance can be a problem, as illustrated by a student who read Clavell's Shogun as preparation for a trip to Japan. It is important to develop historical perspective in our use of modern literature in a world of rapid change. Some of The Good Earth is still valid, but China in 1995 is not the same as China in 1929. The selections are from 24 countries, ranging alphabetically from Australia to Vietnam.
Cultural values are apparent in every story, essay, and poem.
But, if seen only as literature, they are abstracted from the reality of their contexts. Setting is in one of the minority tribes of southwest China. A Hmong folktale from Laos that explains why there aren't too many tigers. Illustrations by Nancy Hom are inspired by Hmong needlework story cloths. Woodcutter and Tiger Brother.