5)Choose two stories that reveal the thinking of an older girls generation of Singaporeans
What new insights have you gained from such a revelation.
In Mid Autumn, the mother is very traditional as she still celebrate Mid Autumn festival, while her daughter thinks otherwise. She is not traditional and does not prioritise these celebrations as much as her mother.This shows the thinking of the younger generations and soon we will lose all the traditional games and practises we have back then.
In Tanjong Rhu, the mother sees a different view of Tanjong Rhu,the past, while her son, sees the persent world. This shows that that the mother does not want to adapt to the society, and is still stuck in the past.This reveals that some older generations are unwilling to adapt to the rapidly changing society and does not want to accept the present.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
1)How is motherhood presented in any two stories in the collection?
In Mid Autumn the mother cares alot for her daughter,it can be seen from her actions, such as adding her daughter's favourite ingredients into the mooncake and buying her lanturn. She works hard as a primary school teacher while her father does not.
In Paper, at the end of the story the mother paid for the funeral and specialy made his dream house out of paper for him even though her son did not treat her well during his life.
2)Select two stories in which there is conflict between parent and child, and show how far there is some resoultion of these difference at the end of story.
In Mid Autumn, the mother was waiting for the daughter to come back every Mid Autumn festival.Whereas her daughter always does not turn up. In the end of the story, the mother accepted her daughter's choice of leaving to Uganda.
In Tanjong Rhu, the son does not trust and believe his mother when she see's the past when using the binoculars. Her son though that she was lying and her eyes need treatment.Another conflict is when her son argued with her mother regarding her going for eye treatment. In the end the mother passed away.
3)With refrence to suitable story, dicuss how far change is shown to be either welcomed or feared.
In Paper, the change of how they were poor at first,and then became rich, and finally became bankrupt overnight. It was ironic twist to the story at the end as they finally did not achive what they desire and the husband became crazy and died of his greed.This type of change was not welcomed as this was not what they have expected to happen.
How are young people and their ideals presented in two stories in the collection. How far do you indentify with this young people.
In Tanjong Rhu, the little daughter was rude to her grandmother. In society now, teenagers are generally rude to their elderly grandmother.
In Mid Autumn the mother cares alot for her daughter,it can be seen from her actions, such as adding her daughter's favourite ingredients into the mooncake and buying her lanturn. She works hard as a primary school teacher while her father does not.
In Paper, at the end of the story the mother paid for the funeral and specialy made his dream house out of paper for him even though her son did not treat her well during his life.
2)Select two stories in which there is conflict between parent and child, and show how far there is some resoultion of these difference at the end of story.
In Mid Autumn, the mother was waiting for the daughter to come back every Mid Autumn festival.Whereas her daughter always does not turn up. In the end of the story, the mother accepted her daughter's choice of leaving to Uganda.
In Tanjong Rhu, the son does not trust and believe his mother when she see's the past when using the binoculars. Her son though that she was lying and her eyes need treatment.Another conflict is when her son argued with her mother regarding her going for eye treatment. In the end the mother passed away.
3)With refrence to suitable story, dicuss how far change is shown to be either welcomed or feared.
In Paper, the change of how they were poor at first,and then became rich, and finally became bankrupt overnight. It was ironic twist to the story at the end as they finally did not achive what they desire and the husband became crazy and died of his greed.This type of change was not welcomed as this was not what they have expected to happen.
How are young people and their ideals presented in two stories in the collection. How far do you indentify with this young people.
In Tanjong Rhu, the little daughter was rude to her grandmother. In society now, teenagers are generally rude to their elderly grandmother.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Literature holiday homework 2009. Abdullah bin Mustaffa 3/4
Evening under the frangipani
Conflicts (internal) Prakash was unsure and unconfident about himself during the interview. He was stressed and worried whether he was the right person for the job.(page 49)
He feels that without a job, he doesn’t contribute much to the community. He also thinks that he doesn’t belong to the community.(page 65)
Conflicts (external) The conflict between Prakash and Elaine’s mother. Elaine’s mother was being unfriendly and sarcastic with Prakash.(page 58-60) Climax The climax of the story is when Prakash and Elaine broke up. There is a twist in the story because everything change. Elaine doesn’t love Prakash anymore.
Resolution Open ended story. Both Elaine and Prakash had went their separate ways. (page 84)
Characters
Prakash: not a conversationalist (page 27)
: easily amused (page 62)
: Mindful (page 69)
: Respectful and patient (page 80-81)
Elaine: hardworking (page 68) : Sensitive (page 62) : Moral (page 53) : Solitary (page 53)
Elaine`s mother: sarcastic (page 59) : Not religious (page 59) : Successful (page 54)
The most interesting part was when Prakash joked while making out with Elaine. Its was both interesting and weird because who would joke while making out? It also changed the whole atmosphere from sweet and lovely to hostile and anger.
Lee
Conflict (internal) There is an internal conflict with the father in the story. He does not want Lee to have dual loyalties but he also does not want his daughter to be unhappy so he allows Lee to go to an American school. (pg 101)
Conflict (external) There is an external conflict between Lee and her father. The both of them have rather contradicting cultural views. Lee is more supportive towards western culture while her father supports traditional Chinese culture. Lee`s father often tries to encourage his culture view on her but Lee would always refuse to accept it. (pg 102 and 103)
Climax
The climax of the story is when Lee went to the family reunion at her grandmothers flat. It allowed her to meet up with her family members and learn more about her culture. It was also a chance for her father to get feedback from his relatives about what he should do with his daughter`s education which would later decide which crowd she moved along with later in the story. (pg 100)
Resolution
I think the type of resolution for this story would be a revelation. At the ending both Lee and her father realise that they both have something in common. They were willing to accept each other`s cultural differences and views. (pg 106-107)
Characters
Lee: descriptive (pg 88-89)
: Likes to use vulgar language (pg 90)
: Likes to criticise (pg 95)
Father: traditional (pg 103)
: Parochial (pg 102)
: Easily irritated (pg 97& 98)
Lee`s grandmother: Kind (pg 100)
: Concerned (pg 100)
: Traditional (pg 99)
The most interesting part was the family reunion. At this point of the story, a contrast is obvious between Lee and her other relatives in terms of culture. It shows how different she is from Singaporeans and gave her relatives, particularly her aunt, to judge and review her negatively. The reunion also showed that Lee had very little knowledge on Asian heritage which might have surprised her father.
Release
Conflict (internal)
The internal conflict in the story is between Eileen`s desire to complain to the neighbours and her natural habit to ignore the situation. The evidence of her neglect is on pg 144 where she “tried as hard as possible not to notice anything about her neighbours”. However the constant build-up of disturbances from her neighbours has force her to take actions like on pg 145 when she decided to call the SPCA.
Conflict (external)
One of the external conflicts in the story is between Eileen and her husband, Philip. Eileen was unhappy with how Philip always stood up for the neighbours and not for Eileen. Philip had always tried ignored the atrocities committed by the new neighbours and end up letting them get away with things. Also, the fact that Philip cares more about his work to be bothered with Eileen`s complaints has also infuriated her. (pg 140-142)
Climax
I think the climax of the story is when Eileen finally decides to call for help from the SPCA and the police. This is the part of the story where things can become unpredictable. It allows the reader to wonder what will happen next as there are endless possibilities as to whether the Eileen will finally get what she wants or if the neighbours will continue to provoke the hostile relationship between them. (pg 145)
Resolution
The resolution of this story is rather open ended. The story ends when the man murders the puppies and Eileen starts panicking. It allows the reader to guess what kind of outcome will occur. It also allows the reader to ponder about why the things happened the way they did and what kind of issues are shown in the story. (pg 148)
Characters
Eileen: Social\welcoming (pg 139)
: Easily agitated (pg 141)
: Good at mothering (pg 143-144)
Philip: Easy-going (pg 141-142)
: Workaholic (pg 143)
: Gullible (pg 142-143)
Neighbours: Impolite (pg 140)
: Impulsive (pg 141)
: They must have things their way (pg 141)
I think the most interesting segment of the story is when the supposedly kind and gentle man killed the puppies; it was much unexpected because the man seemed very nice and he offered to help Eileen. He was also very gentle with the baby so that had pretty much wiped out any possibility of violence in him. When the man murdered the puppies however, it prompted me to think that there was definitely something sinister about him.
An obituary for fifth aunt come late
Conflict (internal)
An internal conflict in the story is between the aunt’s temptation to learn how to read and her belief in the stigma that a dressmaker’s assistant could not be literate at that time. The evidence is on pg 155 where her grandfather held a law fiercely on the family that a dressmaker’s assistant should be allowed to read.
Conflict (external)
An external conflict in the story is between the aunt and her father. When the aunt was sick during her childhood years, her father had apparently lost patience with her and did not feel it was right to spend the family fortunes trying to cure her when he should be spending it on his boys. (pg 153)
Climax
The climax of the story is when the Japanese forces invaded and occupied Singapore. It added more excitement to the story and helped to change the lives of the main characters in the story. (pg 156)
Resolution
The resolution in the story is complete because the aunt has pretty much lived a full and fulfilling life despite some setbacks. Although the life she lived is not quite fortunate compared to the lives of people today, she did not worry about that fact and lived her life as what normal people did at that time. She also died peacefully and is survived by her family members.
Characters
Aunt: Obedient (she always did the chores her parents assigned her pg 152-153)
: Filial (She is willing to join another family so that her family can save money pg 153)
: Hardworking (she always helps the author’s grandmother by doing chores pg 149)
Aunt’s parents: Biased (they care more about their sons than their daughter’s pg 152)
: caring (sent the aunt to another family for a better life pg 153)
: Old fashioned (they prefer to have sons pg 151)
Dressmaker: Kind-hearted (he told the aunt not to go to work on realising the soldier’s
intentions pg 158)
: Business minded (offered discounts to the Japanese occupiers’ pg 157)
: Welcoming (offered tea to the Japanese occupiers’ pg 157)
The most interesting segment in the story is when the aunt joined another family. It is pretty much the start of a new life for the aunt and a lot of unexpected things can happen from this point until the end of the story it has made me wonder whether the aunt will finally be treated fairly or whether she will still be treated as she was with her old family.
A history of tea Conflicts (external) An external conflict in the story is the opium wars mentioned in the story. The Opium Wars broke out with the English ready to go to war for free trade (their right to sell opium) against the Chinese government. Conflicts(internal) An internal conflict in the story is when Beverly mentions that she is going to China and is looking forward to it. This is despite the fact that she knows that most travellers find food terrible and expensive. Climax I think the climax of the story is when Beverly mentions that she was going to tour Asia. It gave the author of the story something to think about his own heritage and how he has never had a chance to explore Asia Resolution The resolution of the story is more of a revelation in my opinion. Nothing much happens in the ending besides the fact that the conversation ends. It does, however, give the author the opportunity to think about his family tree, his relative and the history of tea that has an impact of his family. Characters Beverly: Smart (pg 111) :Understanding(pg 111) :Choosey(pg 109)
Aunt Sherrie: Tea addict (pg 111)
: Religious (pg 119)
: Not used to changes (pg 119)
Grandmother: Religious (pg 117)
: Traditional (pg 115)
: Calls people names (pg 112)
What I like about the story is that it shows us that everybody is connected somehow. Whether our race, skin colour or where we were born. Our lives intertwine with people we don’t even know. Like Tien Yee and Beverly. Connected by the family tree although totally different.
Pastime
Conflicts(Internal) An internal conflict in the story is that the story which Tai Poh claims that is not true (but might potray his life as well), might be true. It could be that he does not want to tell Mr Lee the truth because he is too shy to talk about his past, so he tries to potray it as fiction.
Conflicts(External) An external conflicts is the story told about Tai Poh, the one about a young man who decides to fight in the jungle
Climax I think that the climax of the story is when Mr Lee decides to tell his own little story about a security guard which might also reflect on Tai Poh’s life. It adds more suspense to the story from this point. Resolution The resolution of the story is a revelation. Nothing much happens other than the conversation ending, but, it has made both of them realize certain things about their lives and that some things about their lives and that some things are best kept as stories. Characters Tai Poh: Mysterious (tells a story which could be about himself but claims it is fiction pg 215)
: Creative (pg 212)
: Shy (pg 212)
Mr Lee : Attentive (pg 216)
: Creative (pg 2!7)
: Persistant (pg 217)
Man mention in Tai Poh’s story: Brave (pg 213)
: Ambitious (pg 213)
: Reckless
Evening under the frangipani
Conflicts (internal) Prakash was unsure and unconfident about himself during the interview. He was stressed and worried whether he was the right person for the job.(page 49)
He feels that without a job, he doesn’t contribute much to the community. He also thinks that he doesn’t belong to the community.(page 65)
Conflicts (external) The conflict between Prakash and Elaine’s mother. Elaine’s mother was being unfriendly and sarcastic with Prakash.(page 58-60) Climax The climax of the story is when Prakash and Elaine broke up. There is a twist in the story because everything change. Elaine doesn’t love Prakash anymore.
Resolution Open ended story. Both Elaine and Prakash had went their separate ways. (page 84)
Characters
Prakash: not a conversationalist (page 27)
: easily amused (page 62)
: Mindful (page 69)
: Respectful and patient (page 80-81)
Elaine: hardworking (page 68) : Sensitive (page 62) : Moral (page 53) : Solitary (page 53)
Elaine`s mother: sarcastic (page 59) : Not religious (page 59) : Successful (page 54)
The most interesting part was when Prakash joked while making out with Elaine. Its was both interesting and weird because who would joke while making out? It also changed the whole atmosphere from sweet and lovely to hostile and anger.
Lee
Conflict (internal) There is an internal conflict with the father in the story. He does not want Lee to have dual loyalties but he also does not want his daughter to be unhappy so he allows Lee to go to an American school. (pg 101)
Conflict (external) There is an external conflict between Lee and her father. The both of them have rather contradicting cultural views. Lee is more supportive towards western culture while her father supports traditional Chinese culture. Lee`s father often tries to encourage his culture view on her but Lee would always refuse to accept it. (pg 102 and 103)
Climax
The climax of the story is when Lee went to the family reunion at her grandmothers flat. It allowed her to meet up with her family members and learn more about her culture. It was also a chance for her father to get feedback from his relatives about what he should do with his daughter`s education which would later decide which crowd she moved along with later in the story. (pg 100)
Resolution
I think the type of resolution for this story would be a revelation. At the ending both Lee and her father realise that they both have something in common. They were willing to accept each other`s cultural differences and views. (pg 106-107)
Characters
Lee: descriptive (pg 88-89)
: Likes to use vulgar language (pg 90)
: Likes to criticise (pg 95)
Father: traditional (pg 103)
: Parochial (pg 102)
: Easily irritated (pg 97& 98)
Lee`s grandmother: Kind (pg 100)
: Concerned (pg 100)
: Traditional (pg 99)
The most interesting part was the family reunion. At this point of the story, a contrast is obvious between Lee and her other relatives in terms of culture. It shows how different she is from Singaporeans and gave her relatives, particularly her aunt, to judge and review her negatively. The reunion also showed that Lee had very little knowledge on Asian heritage which might have surprised her father.
Release
Conflict (internal)
The internal conflict in the story is between Eileen`s desire to complain to the neighbours and her natural habit to ignore the situation. The evidence of her neglect is on pg 144 where she “tried as hard as possible not to notice anything about her neighbours”. However the constant build-up of disturbances from her neighbours has force her to take actions like on pg 145 when she decided to call the SPCA.
Conflict (external)
One of the external conflicts in the story is between Eileen and her husband, Philip. Eileen was unhappy with how Philip always stood up for the neighbours and not for Eileen. Philip had always tried ignored the atrocities committed by the new neighbours and end up letting them get away with things. Also, the fact that Philip cares more about his work to be bothered with Eileen`s complaints has also infuriated her. (pg 140-142)
Climax
I think the climax of the story is when Eileen finally decides to call for help from the SPCA and the police. This is the part of the story where things can become unpredictable. It allows the reader to wonder what will happen next as there are endless possibilities as to whether the Eileen will finally get what she wants or if the neighbours will continue to provoke the hostile relationship between them. (pg 145)
Resolution
The resolution of this story is rather open ended. The story ends when the man murders the puppies and Eileen starts panicking. It allows the reader to guess what kind of outcome will occur. It also allows the reader to ponder about why the things happened the way they did and what kind of issues are shown in the story. (pg 148)
Characters
Eileen: Social\welcoming (pg 139)
: Easily agitated (pg 141)
: Good at mothering (pg 143-144)
Philip: Easy-going (pg 141-142)
: Workaholic (pg 143)
: Gullible (pg 142-143)
Neighbours: Impolite (pg 140)
: Impulsive (pg 141)
: They must have things their way (pg 141)
I think the most interesting segment of the story is when the supposedly kind and gentle man killed the puppies; it was much unexpected because the man seemed very nice and he offered to help Eileen. He was also very gentle with the baby so that had pretty much wiped out any possibility of violence in him. When the man murdered the puppies however, it prompted me to think that there was definitely something sinister about him.
An obituary for fifth aunt come late
Conflict (internal)
An internal conflict in the story is between the aunt’s temptation to learn how to read and her belief in the stigma that a dressmaker’s assistant could not be literate at that time. The evidence is on pg 155 where her grandfather held a law fiercely on the family that a dressmaker’s assistant should be allowed to read.
Conflict (external)
An external conflict in the story is between the aunt and her father. When the aunt was sick during her childhood years, her father had apparently lost patience with her and did not feel it was right to spend the family fortunes trying to cure her when he should be spending it on his boys. (pg 153)
Climax
The climax of the story is when the Japanese forces invaded and occupied Singapore. It added more excitement to the story and helped to change the lives of the main characters in the story. (pg 156)
Resolution
The resolution in the story is complete because the aunt has pretty much lived a full and fulfilling life despite some setbacks. Although the life she lived is not quite fortunate compared to the lives of people today, she did not worry about that fact and lived her life as what normal people did at that time. She also died peacefully and is survived by her family members.
Characters
Aunt: Obedient (she always did the chores her parents assigned her pg 152-153)
: Filial (She is willing to join another family so that her family can save money pg 153)
: Hardworking (she always helps the author’s grandmother by doing chores pg 149)
Aunt’s parents: Biased (they care more about their sons than their daughter’s pg 152)
: caring (sent the aunt to another family for a better life pg 153)
: Old fashioned (they prefer to have sons pg 151)
Dressmaker: Kind-hearted (he told the aunt not to go to work on realising the soldier’s
intentions pg 158)
: Business minded (offered discounts to the Japanese occupiers’ pg 157)
: Welcoming (offered tea to the Japanese occupiers’ pg 157)
The most interesting segment in the story is when the aunt joined another family. It is pretty much the start of a new life for the aunt and a lot of unexpected things can happen from this point until the end of the story it has made me wonder whether the aunt will finally be treated fairly or whether she will still be treated as she was with her old family.
A history of tea Conflicts (external) An external conflict in the story is the opium wars mentioned in the story. The Opium Wars broke out with the English ready to go to war for free trade (their right to sell opium) against the Chinese government. Conflicts(internal) An internal conflict in the story is when Beverly mentions that she is going to China and is looking forward to it. This is despite the fact that she knows that most travellers find food terrible and expensive. Climax I think the climax of the story is when Beverly mentions that she was going to tour Asia. It gave the author of the story something to think about his own heritage and how he has never had a chance to explore Asia Resolution The resolution of the story is more of a revelation in my opinion. Nothing much happens in the ending besides the fact that the conversation ends. It does, however, give the author the opportunity to think about his family tree, his relative and the history of tea that has an impact of his family. Characters Beverly: Smart (pg 111) :Understanding(pg 111) :Choosey(pg 109)
Aunt Sherrie: Tea addict (pg 111)
: Religious (pg 119)
: Not used to changes (pg 119)
Grandmother: Religious (pg 117)
: Traditional (pg 115)
: Calls people names (pg 112)
What I like about the story is that it shows us that everybody is connected somehow. Whether our race, skin colour or where we were born. Our lives intertwine with people we don’t even know. Like Tien Yee and Beverly. Connected by the family tree although totally different.
Pastime
Conflicts(Internal) An internal conflict in the story is that the story which Tai Poh claims that is not true (but might potray his life as well), might be true. It could be that he does not want to tell Mr Lee the truth because he is too shy to talk about his past, so he tries to potray it as fiction.
Conflicts(External) An external conflicts is the story told about Tai Poh, the one about a young man who decides to fight in the jungle
Climax I think that the climax of the story is when Mr Lee decides to tell his own little story about a security guard which might also reflect on Tai Poh’s life. It adds more suspense to the story from this point. Resolution The resolution of the story is a revelation. Nothing much happens other than the conversation ending, but, it has made both of them realize certain things about their lives and that some things about their lives and that some things are best kept as stories. Characters Tai Poh: Mysterious (tells a story which could be about himself but claims it is fiction pg 215)
: Creative (pg 212)
: Shy (pg 212)
Mr Lee : Attentive (pg 216)
: Creative (pg 2!7)
: Persistant (pg 217)
Man mention in Tai Poh’s story: Brave (pg 213)
: Ambitious (pg 213)
: Reckless
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