Literature Assignment 2

1. Choose two stories that reveal the thinking of an older generation of Singaporeans : What new insights have you gained from such a revelation.

Stories:
- History of Tea
- The Move

The history of tea is about an older generation who find different races hateful and he or she was frighten of them. It is because he or she did not understood the races and the religions clearly, plus there were some of the information which against the race which had influenced the old generation. Therefore, the old generation usually disagree with her/his children to marry with a person with different race. The evidence from the story is at page , Beverly had a marriage with a gentleman. However, when her parents discovered the identity of that gentleman as a part of the Jewish. They decided to let Beverly to think again at first. This showed the conflict between different religion because there were lots of people from old generation found Jewish greedy and evil, but actually, Jewish were not.

The story The Move is about a grandmother being rather sulky when she was not allowed to bring alone her one and only pomegranate tree to a new house. Being in the older generation, most grandparents would sulk as though they are being left alone. In this case, it is rather normal for the grandmother to sulk when she was not allowed to bring along her pomegranate tree and doesnt want to move out of teh house. Not to forget she also sulks because her things are being thrown away. The evidence from the story is on page, 205, that says, "The old lady was vaguely irritated for the first time. It's always the plants that get left behind. Why?" This concludes that she is rather dissappointed with her children.

2. Choose five links and write comments of 50-100 words about the content of the blogs. (Not design/ pictures/ layout) You must identify yourself.
1. Nuraini
2. Mardiana
3. Kelly
4. Pei Shuan
5. Jummirah

Island Voices

Q1. How is motherhood presented in any two stories in the collection?
Stories : - Release
- Tanjong Rhu

In the story Release, it explains about the importance of motherhood. In this case, Eileen loves her baby. If Eileen doesnt care about her baby, the baby would continue crying all day long. Eileen is having alot of pressure taking care of her baby. Espeacially with such neighbours that are inconsiderate. If Eileen doesnt have such neighbour, she wouldnt have so much trouble stopping her baby from crying. Therefore, this tells us that motherhood is present in the story, Release.

In the story Tanjong Rhu, it talks about a mother and the son. The son is insisting the mother to wear binoculars in order to see Tanjong Rhu which is far away from Mr Li's office. From here, the mother refuses to wear such therefore, a conflict arises. Mr Li didnt understand the mother ; doesnt attend to her needs.

Q2. Select two stories in which there is conflict between parent and child and show how far there is some resolution of these differences at the end of the story.
Stories : - The Move
- Mid Autumn

The story The Move is about moving into another house. The grandmother wants to bring along her antique things with her. However, her daughter doesnt want her mother to bring along her antique things as there wouldnt be any space. Besides, to her mother, these antique things mean alot to her; espeacially her pomegranate tree. This is what her daughter doesnt understand about her. The pomegranate tree has alot of meaning towards her.

The story Mid Autumn is about a mother having a conflict with the daughter. The daughter wants to be free, therefore, she wants to follow her own dreams which is going to Uganda. Even though her parents disagrees to her, she refuses to listen to them. Therefore, a conflict between them rises. When her daughter went to Uganda, he mother patiently waited for her beloved daughter to go back home to her.

Q3. With reference to suitable stories, discuss how far change is show to be either welcomed, or
feared.
Stories : - Corridor
-Evening Under Frangipani

After the murder took place, the family decided to go back home. From there, the family felt there was a little change as the neighbour slightly opened their window. In this case, it means something. The reason is because, before the family went for their holiday, the neighbours would always shut their windows close. From this, i can tell that the family is being welcomed home by their neighbours.

Evening Under Frangipani is a story which told us about a huge change of that specific person. In this case, The main role, Prakash was a nervous person who did not dare to pass his interview. However, after Eliean broke up their love. Prakash beome stronger instead of become weaker. Nevertheless, it is unfortunatly that Elaine love the person named Mike instead of continue the love with him.

Q4. How are young people and their ideals reprsented in two stories in the collection ?
How far do you agree with these people?
Stories : - The Move
- Evening under Frangpani
The move is a story about a daughter who wants to move into another big house. Therefore, doesnt care about her mother who wants to bring along the pomegranate tree. The daughter wants a larger space for her daughter to live in. This is eventually her goal, to have a suitable life for her children
Mid autumn is about a daughter who wants to help to help other people who are in need. For example, going to Uganda. This is her goal. To help other people in need and doesnt even care about her family's/ Parents wish. Her parents disagrees towards her decision on going to help other people rather than her own family.

-Nuramirah

Release

Story: Release

Conflict	· Conflict : (internal) Eileen’s desire to complain to the neighbours and the habit of ignoring the situation. The evidence is, “tried as hard as possible not to notice anything about her neighbours”. The disturbance has made her take actions like when she decided to call up the SPCA to complain about the situation. (pg 144-145)
Climax	Eileen decides to call for help from the SPCA and the police. This is where the suspense and curiosity of the reader enters. We would feel excited as we would want to find out what happens next.
Resolution	Open ended We didn’t know what happens to the dogs that it became quiet in the neighbourhood. And, how would the new neighbours react to Elaine’s actions.

Characters

Elaine	Sensitive (gets angry easily, pg 141) Caring (gentle with children, pg 143-144)
Philip	Sarcastic (about the laundry, pg 141) Easy going (gives in alot , pg 141-142)
Neighbours	Disrespectful (rude to Elaine) Inconsiderate (leaves the dogs by themselves)

Most interesting segment:

I believe the most interesting segment in the story is when the kind gentleman offers to help Elaine. I wonder what he did that made the puppies quiet. This makes me curious as it wasn’t stated in the story. It also makes me wonder if there may be something bad about that guy as,’ what he did to the puppies’?

A History of Tea

Story: A History of Tea

Conflicts	· The internal conflict is when Beverly said that she is going to China and she looks forward to it. It is despite the fact that she knows that most travelers find the food disgusting yet expensive. (pg 112) · The external conflict is the opium wars. The Opium Wars broke out with the English ready to go to war to get free trade against the Chinese government, who opposed the trade of opium fearing their addictive and dangerous values. (pg 119~120)
Climax	The climax began when Beverly mentioned that she was going around Asia. It gave the author of the story something to think about his travels and how he has never gotten a chance to explore Asia. (pg113)
Resolution	· Revelation. Nothing much happened in the end just that the conversation has ended.

Characters

Beverly	· Smart (has plans to study history at Oxford/Cambridge, pg 111) · Understanding (She knows her mother loves tea pg 111)
Aunt Sherrie	· Addicted to Tea (pg 111) · Religious ( pg 119)
Grandmother	· Religious (goes to Church pg 117) · Traditional (pg 115)

Most Interesting segment:

The most interesting segment of this story is when Beverly talks about her Jewish boyfriend. Not to forget, also, when her parents disapprove of her relationship with him. This makes me feel curious on what Beverly would do to keep their relationship..

An Obituary for the Fifth Aunt Come Late

Story: An Obituary for the Fifth Aunt Come Late

Conflicts	· An external conflict is between the aunt and her father. When the aunt was sick during her childhood years, her father had lost patience with her and did not feel that it was right to spend the family funds trying to cure her when he should be spending it on his sons. · The internal conflict 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 made a law on the family that a dressmaker’s assistant should be allowed to read.
Climax	The climax happened when the Japanese forces invaded Singapore. It added more adrenaline to the story and changed the lives of the main characters. (pg156)
Resolution	· Complete Resolution The aunt has lived a full and fulfilling life despite ups and downs. At the end, she died peacefully, knowing that the life she lived is not as fortunate compared to the lives of people living today.

Characters

Aunt	1. Obedient (she does her chores and obeys pg 152) 2. Hardworking (pg 149)
Dressmaker	1. Kind-hearted (pg 158) 2. Polite (pg 157)
Aunt’s Parents	1. Old Fashioned (prefers having a son than a daughter (pg151) 2. Caring (pg 153)

Most interesting segment:

The most interesting segment in this story is when aunt joined the other family. It is the start of a new life for the aunt. Unexpected things can happen from this point until the end. It made me wonder whether aunt will finally be treated equally or whether she would be treated like before.

Pastime

Story: Pastime

Conflicts	Man with the limp and the educated guy (external) The man with the limp refused to go on television (pg 213-214) The young girl and the mother (external) Mother doesn’t like her talking about the past (pg 220) Mr Lee and Tai Poh (external) Mr Lee insists on continuing the story but Tai Poh didn’t want to (pg217)
Climax	Mr Lee asked Tai Poh if the man with the limp approached the young lady. (pg 219–220)
Resolution	Complete Resolution The tale that Tai Poh told was just a story; pastime & not real life (pg 220)

Characters

Mr Lee	He is a good listener (listens attentively to Tai Poh’s stories, pg 213-214) He is sarcastic (the question, “You and I are friends right?”, pg 217)
Tai Poh	He is considerate (did not bother any passenger in the MRT, pg 212) He is creative (can creates stories by looking at someone, pg 212-213)
The woman in the picture	She is unreasonable (She did not tell the reason why her daughter should not ask questions about the past, pg220)
The young lady in the MRT	She is curious (about the past, pg 220) She is self conscious (when Tai Poh stared at her in the MRT, pg 215-216)

Most Interesting segment:

When Tai Poh finally revealed that the woman in the picture is actually the young lady’s mother. I find that past interesting as I felt curious of who the lady in the picture was. Is amazing how Tai Poh knows that the lady in the MRT seems familiar. (pg 220)

Lee

Story: Lee

Conflicts	Eileen and husband (external) Husband always speak for someone else (pg 143) Eileen and neighbour (external) Neighbour was rude towards her Eileen and baby (external) Eileen was tired of the baby crying
Climax	Eileen was very irritated and frustrated by the noise the dogs make and therefore she stayed awake until she sees a person going into her neighbours house to give the puppies food. The next night, she saw a man and she approached her and asked for help. (pg 145-146)
Resolution	Ironic Resolution When we thought the problem was solved, it actually wasn’t (pg 148)

Characters

Eileen	She is friendly (approached neighbours to welcome them, pg 139) She doesn’t give up easily (stayed awake to see the person who feeds the dogs, pg 145-146) She wants equal rights (about the tree, pg 141-142)
Philip	He is nonchalant (doesn’t care about the tree, pg 143) He is workaholic (husband always at work, pg 145) He is sarcastic (conversation on phone about the suit – making sure his wife doesn’t forget about picking it up from the dry cleaning again, pg 141)
Neighbour	They are rude (the way she talks to the workers who help to move her things, pg 140) They are inconsiderate (leaves the puppies by themselves, making others having trouble at night, pg 144)

Most interesting segment:

Eileen finally saw the man who feeds the neighbour’s puppies. When I read that part, I felt glad that finally there is someone there to help her. I also felt glad that Eileen did not do anything stupid when she indeed was very frustrated and irritated with the phone calls that didn’t help her at all.

Evening under Frangipani

Story: Evening under Frangipani

Conflicts	Prakash and his personnel manager (external) His personnel manager kept asking questions (pg 48) Elaine and her parents (external) She knew her parents marriage was not happy (pg 55) Prakash and Elaine (external) Elaine felt a little disappointed about the beer (pg 61)
Climax	It is when Prakash came over to Elaine’s house and make out with her. Prakash laughed about Elaine’s hand which looked like beetles, just like her dad. They had an argument with one another.
Resolution	Complete Resolution Elaine and Prakash eventually moved on, in separate ways (pg83-84)

Characters

Prakash	He is a nervous wreck (during job interview, pg 48) He is nervy (during job interview, pg48) He is humble (the reason Elaine likes him, pg 51)
Elaine	She is feminist (during her talk at the University, pg 49) She is very casual (the way she dresses, pg 51) She is caring (She cheered Prakash up, pg 53)
Elaine’s Mummy	She sees class difference (about Prakash, pg 84) She is judgemental ( She is a highly successful lawyer (

Most interesting segment:

Prakash came to Elaine’s house and make out with her. While kissing, Prakash giggled and Elaine felt pissed off.

Elaine thinks that Prakash giggled about her hands that look like beetles just like her dad. She insisted Prakash to

leave just because of the giggle. I find this segment interesting and yet very weird.