Summary

“Gon-do-la” by Annemarie Neary tells the story of Zhang, a Chinese woman, who is working in a Chinese production factory. After the production of Golden Pyramid pencil sharpeners, the supervisor of the workers announces that the factory will be producing toy gondolas which should include a plastic man, a plastic woman, and a plastic boatman. When an office worker offers the factory workers some leaflets that will help them with the production, Zhang learns about Venice and Italy, the city and the country where gondolas are used.

After the factory produces too many gondolas, the supervisor announces the workers that the gondolas will be diversified. Some groups are assigned to work on the basic model, while others are to work on the Deluxe model. Zhang and her group are assigned to the Exqui...