Hands up for henna

Hands up for Henna by Adrienne Jansen

School Journal Part 4, Number 2 2002.

WALT: Skim and scan the text for key information and make inferences.

Success Criteria: I can locate the key information in the text.

I can use information found in the text and make my own conclusions about this information.

Answer the following questions in red:

Looking at the images on the front page, what do you think Henna is?

A girl that if fully decorated with some kind of ink.  Why do you think this?

The reason why I think she is a girl is because of the pattern that is on her hand.

What do the words dramatic and decoration mean?

Dramatic means that you are over reacted like you are overboard for something that has been done or that has been said, Decoration means building an idea in your head and then design it after woods to make it more amazed.

Why has Henna been used for hundreds of years in Somalia?

They use Henna for weddings,new year celebration and many other festive occasions.

Asli has had her hand and feet decorated especially for this article.

Where is the Henna imported from, why do they not just purchase it in New Zealand?

They would just like to use their own henna probably because henna has been around for hundreds of years and because New Zealand has a different one to what they have.

What does the Henna powder feel like? The powder feels like gritty.Rather like sand.

What substance has the writer compared Henna to? Henna is a dramatic and beautiful form of decoration, it’s a traditional  

Why do you think it took so long to draw the outlines for the Henna?

Because it says that painstakingly begins to fill in the out linf on Asli’s feet.

It was also on her arm and all over her.

What does the writer mean when he says “painstakingly begins to fill the outlines on Asli’s feet”?

Means that it took for a long time to do the out line and that it was painstakingly. For example someone was picking rubbish and it took a long time to do it and it was painstakingly.  

What type of traditional elements does the outlines include?

(refer to the images)

High quality product, they mix it with tea to make the final color and give it a glossy shine.

She mix it with her fingers, scooping it up and slapping it back into the bowl until it it completely soft mud.

What do they use when applying the Henna? For what purpose do they use this instead of a small stick? The use a plastic bag which is shaped as a cone and they squeeze it so the henna in side it can come out.

I think because the plastic bag is better than using a stick and so you can squeeze it.

Wednesday:

What does Asli have to do after the Henna has been applied to her skin?

After the henna paste dries, she has to keep her arms and feet in the air so it can dry probably.

Henna has an ‘earthy’ smell, describe what you think this smells like?

I think it smells really strong and really gassy and but at the same time it smells nice and also muddy and the smells of tea and the reason why I think she smells like tea is because they added a bit of tea so might smell like tea.

Baby oil is rubbed into the skin after the Henna has been applied, for what reason do you think they do this? The reason why I think they put baby oil afterward is because after that they can make her look moist and also that the drawing will stand out look shiny and moist as well and so it won’t look rusty and all that.

How did Asli’s school friends previously react when she last had Henna?

When Asli had been decorated for new year the boys at her school said “ what happen to your hands and feet?” But the girls said “Cool”  

How was Asli’s sister having fun? She was having fun by putting on henna and doing a pattern on her arm.

Is this different to the type of fun you have. How does your activity of fun and Asli’s sisters differ? My fun is just hanging out and laughing that is fun to me but sometimes doing things for fun is fun like just playing for fun.

What is Henna? Henna is a cream ink thing that you can put it on your body and make a pattern out of it. The other thing is that if you want to get it off well it can’t because it doesn't come out for a month. Also henna has been use for hundred of years and been used for wedding and celebration’s and all other thing’s.

Will the tradition of Henna continue? Yes because it is not only used in Africa it is also used around the world.

Thursday / Friday

Henna is seen as being traditional, can you elaborate and find examples in the text of how it is traditional? It is traditional because they use it as wedding’s and celebration and also for special thing’s.

In what countries do they use Henna? Africa, Australia, America and also the Malaysian people also do it as well so it is in most countries.

Do you think because Henna is used on the skin it is encouraging people to get Tattoo’s why / why not? People might want it to use it as a tattoo and they have it for a month it might come off but if they don’t use it as a tattoo then that means that might just being doing it for fun,

Would you recommend henna to be used by men/ women or both? What is your reasoning for this? I recommend only women just do it because the womens match it and the men well if they put it they will probably look weird but it is up to them so I think men and women should both do it.

Write a step by step set of instructions at to how Henna is applied.

well first they have mud, tea or coffee and then they put it into a bowl and then they let it to melt and then they pour it into a cone then squeeze it on to the the person skin.