Do you remember the case where an Indian man make a report of his missing wife months ago? Guess what, our team finally met her. It was when one of our team member actually recognized her face when she was passing by a public library near the place. Well, who doesn't when her husband had put so much efforts in finding her including putting a notice in San Jose Mercury as well as a half page ad in India west which he photocopied and taped to neighborhood lampposts. The ad had a photo of her , a close-up taken in too-bright sunlight where she gazed gravely at something beyond the camera. WOMAN MISSING, read the ad. REWARD $100,000. That was how much his love towards her. I personally thought that perhaps this poor man cannot simply live without her beloved wife.
We can not tell you the specific place of where we finally met her in order to fulfil her wish. She did not want her ex husband to find her ever again.That made us curious for a start since we found her in a perfect shape. We did ask what really happened and then she said " I just have to go. I don't feel like staying in that house anymore". "But why? " we asked. " You people don't know what i've been through. He was abusing me silently" said the owner of that pair of big black eyes. Her answer kept us wondering to know what really happened. If their marriage didn't work out then why don't they call it quit? Why does she have to do such a thing like running away from her commitment? After all,she has a son to look after.Suddenly she cried when we mention her boy." I really missed him" she said but she had to do that in order to get away from that man.
" He'll never let me go if I told him (his husband) that I was going to leave him. It's not that he loves me so much that he wanted me to be by his side but he just don'want to lose me. For Indians, divorce in a family is not a very good thing since it may had embarrassed him." she continued. " I do sometimes take a peek to my boy (her son) at the house but I'd be extra careful to not letting them saw me. Really, what kind of mother in the world who can stand to be apart from her child? But in the end,I know his father loves him so much and I had left him in a good hand." She is now pursuing her studies at a college here where it has been her dream the whole time - to be a successful, and educated woman. Not that type of typical Indian woman who her ex wanted her to be that only stayed home and do the house chores beside entertain the husband. She wanted more and that was the reason why she left the house.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Monday 15 August 2011
the disappearance (part 1)
1.Does the title hint at anything ominous? How?
- yes it does.from the title, the reader can tell that something ominous would happen in the story and it has something to do with disappearance of someone important. so it is, the protagonist's wife were missing and it left a great impact on the family. her son kept looking for her as well as her husband. but later, the protagonist finally found out that her disappearance was because of her flee, not of crime and such.
2. The father does not give any indication to the son that his mother is coming back. Why is that so?
- because he really do not know where the mother was. he did not want to lie to her son as he personally taught him ever not to lie. finally the father discovered that the mother ran away from home, this strengthen his intuition that she was never going to come back home to the family.
3. Do you think it is acceptable to tell a white lie?
- i think it is acceptable since we were lying to a little kid just to comfort them. then again, it depends on situation. the boy will finally know the truth sooner or later but during his age, it is acceptable for the father to just ease his mind and he can always tell his son the truth when he is growing up and at the right time.
4. Do you think the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' summarises this short story? How?
-yes i do think it summaries the story. as we can see, the longer the protagonist being apart with her wife, the feeling towards her decreases. it was shown when he can remove her photo from the frame and replace it with the picture of him and his son. he is slowly forgetting his wife. and right after he discover that she left her, he decided to remarry and having another family to replace her.
5. Do Americans and Indians share the same values? Explain.
- they obviously did not share the same values. the first difference is the wife of the Indians ought to be loyal and obedient to her husband. meanwhile the American's wives prefer to do things on their own than listening to their husband. Other than that, the Indians' wives are more proper and they usually have the basic knowledge to manage their family such as the cooking skills. Unlike the Americans' wives, they not likely have the basic of the knowledge as they rather buy or feed their family with fast food than prepare it on their own.
- yes it does.from the title, the reader can tell that something ominous would happen in the story and it has something to do with disappearance of someone important. so it is, the protagonist's wife were missing and it left a great impact on the family. her son kept looking for her as well as her husband. but later, the protagonist finally found out that her disappearance was because of her flee, not of crime and such.
- because he really do not know where the mother was. he did not want to lie to her son as he personally taught him ever not to lie. finally the father discovered that the mother ran away from home, this strengthen his intuition that she was never going to come back home to the family.
3. Do you think it is acceptable to tell a white lie?
- i think it is acceptable since we were lying to a little kid just to comfort them. then again, it depends on situation. the boy will finally know the truth sooner or later but during his age, it is acceptable for the father to just ease his mind and he can always tell his son the truth when he is growing up and at the right time.
4. Do you think the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' summarises this short story? How?
-yes i do think it summaries the story. as we can see, the longer the protagonist being apart with her wife, the feeling towards her decreases. it was shown when he can remove her photo from the frame and replace it with the picture of him and his son. he is slowly forgetting his wife. and right after he discover that she left her, he decided to remarry and having another family to replace her.
5. Do Americans and Indians share the same values? Explain.
- they obviously did not share the same values. the first difference is the wife of the Indians ought to be loyal and obedient to her husband. meanwhile the American's wives prefer to do things on their own than listening to their husband. Other than that, the Indians' wives are more proper and they usually have the basic knowledge to manage their family such as the cooking skills. Unlike the Americans' wives, they not likely have the basic of the knowledge as they rather buy or feed their family with fast food than prepare it on their own.
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Theme
LOVE
The theme that we found in The Jade Bracelet is love. The love is between Siew May and her grandmother. it is shown when Siew May always looking for her grandmotherfrom the beginning of the story till the end of the story. At the beginning, after played 'masak - masak' with the twins, she will start looking for her grandmother.
another evidence is when she becomes very anxious when Ah Chong said that her grandmother is going to die. she was worried if her grandmother will trully leave her.then, at the temple, during the cremation of her grandmother, she started to wonder where is the presence of her grandmother and insisted on going home because she worried that her grandmother might be waiting for her alone at home. despite of the fact that her grandmother was cremated in front of her own two eyes, she still look for her.
this theme was also found in the short story The Rose For Emily.
Emily loved her late father dearly. When her father passed away, she resisted to accept the fact that her beloved father was gone forever. She stayed home for three days and she kept the dead body of her father with her. She did not allow the villagers to come in and buried her father. It was only after she got the enforcement from the law then she allowed the people to come and organize the funeral for her father. another love was shown when she met the love of her life, Homer Barron. she take his life for fear that he would leave her. then she actually kept that rotting corpse in her house for years.
in the short story The Lamb To The Slaughter,
It was shown at the character of Mrs Maloney who loved her husband dearly. She loved everything about him. She would waited for him to come home from work every single day. it is okay for her to do the same routine all over again as long as she could be with her hubby. When her husband told her that he wanted a divorce, she could not believe it. for a while, she pretend that she did not hear a thing. It was a complete denial for her as she love her husband so much. because of her love, she was afraid to lose him and decide that only the death can make them apart. It was until one point that her husband did not allow her to prepare him a dinner that she act so spontaneously by hitting him to death. Then she satisfied by losing that way.
The theme that we found in The Jade Bracelet is love. The love is between Siew May and her grandmother. it is shown when Siew May always looking for her grandmotherfrom the beginning of the story till the end of the story. At the beginning, after played 'masak - masak' with the twins, she will start looking for her grandmother.
another evidence is when she becomes very anxious when Ah Chong said that her grandmother is going to die. she was worried if her grandmother will trully leave her.then, at the temple, during the cremation of her grandmother, she started to wonder where is the presence of her grandmother and insisted on going home because she worried that her grandmother might be waiting for her alone at home. despite of the fact that her grandmother was cremated in front of her own two eyes, she still look for her.
this theme was also found in the short story The Rose For Emily.
Emily loved her late father dearly. When her father passed away, she resisted to accept the fact that her beloved father was gone forever. She stayed home for three days and she kept the dead body of her father with her. She did not allow the villagers to come in and buried her father. It was only after she got the enforcement from the law then she allowed the people to come and organize the funeral for her father. another love was shown when she met the love of her life, Homer Barron. she take his life for fear that he would leave her. then she actually kept that rotting corpse in her house for years.
in the short story The Lamb To The Slaughter,
It was shown at the character of Mrs Maloney who loved her husband dearly. She loved everything about him. She would waited for him to come home from work every single day. it is okay for her to do the same routine all over again as long as she could be with her hubby. When her husband told her that he wanted a divorce, she could not believe it. for a while, she pretend that she did not hear a thing. It was a complete denial for her as she love her husband so much. because of her love, she was afraid to lose him and decide that only the death can make them apart. It was until one point that her husband did not allow her to prepare him a dinner that she act so spontaneously by hitting him to death. Then she satisfied by losing that way.
the jade bracelet (part 2)
possible ending of the story..
After Ah Kow got the bracelet, he is extremely happy because he finally got a solution for his financial problems. he did not have to ask for help from her brother anymore. The jade will be sold by Ah Kow since he is indeed desperate for money. he would not valued the jade bracelet although it was the only heirloom that his mother left for the family. He is not that responsible to keep it in a good condition and to treasure it dearly.
As for Siew May, the daughter of Mrs Wong, she would feel very sad and frustrated of not having that jade bracelet because she's been wanting that bracelet since her late grandmother was still alive. The bracelet supposed to be hers because her late grandmother had told her that she would have it once her grandmother dies. If she got the it, she would be the happiest girl alive. but we don't know how well she's going to keep it in a good shape since she love to play masak-masak with her friends. lets hope that she did not lose it while playing her games.
Her mother, Mrs Wong is clearly had made a mistake for giving the heirloom of the family to Ah Kow. Everyone know how irresponsible person he is and giving that jade bracelet to him is just the same as throwing it away. It is true that Ah Kow is the only male successor of the family but passing down the precious thing to him just doesn't seems like a very good idea.
Monday 8 August 2011
The Jade Bracelet~~ Mary Frances Chong
1. What is the relationship between Mrs Wong and Mrs Lee?
- They are siblings
2. Is Mrs Wong a filial daughter? Give three reasons.
- Yes
- She carefully prepared the breakfast broth forher sick mother
- She never complaint
- She had been nursing her bed-ridden mother for years
3. What is Ah Kow's real name? How is he related to the dying woman in the short story?
4. Why is Sam Poh Tong mentioned in the short story?
- It is because it is the name of the temple that Mrs Wong took their mother to.
5. What do you think the jade bracelet symbolises? Give your reasons.
- It symbolize strength as the jade remained in good condition even after being burnt. Grandmother wore it for a very long time yet it was still in shape.
6. Do you think Siew May is naive? Cite your reasons with quotations.
- Yes I think Siew May is naïve. She only thought of having that jade bracelet when her grandmother was sick. When they were at the temple, she actually can observe the presence of the turtle in the pond in that chaotic situation. Next was when she cried of wanting to go home and wondering that her grandmother might be waiting alone in their house eventhough at that particular moment,her grandmother was already dead an her corpse was burnt into ashes in front of her two eyes.
7. Did Siew May get the jade bracelet in the end? Why?
- Siew May did not get the jade bracelet because her mother gave it to her brother, Ah Fook Kee since he is the only man in their family.
8. Do you like the story? Why?
- Yes, I do like the story because there are moral values that I can follow from this short story. The first one is respect the elders. It shows when the children respect their mother like Mrs Wong respect her mother and Siew May respect Mrs Wong.
SIew May also respect her uncle, Ah Fook Kee.
The second one is the love of a daughter to her mother. Mrs Wong still take care of her ill mother till the end. It shows the love and respect that she owns towards her mother.
Sunday 7 August 2011
dialogue between Uncle Teng and his parents
mom :: how was it , Teng? your meeting with that girl?
Uncle Teng :: it didn't go quite well as i planned, mom..
mom :: but why , my son? was that girl doesn't suits you well?
dad :: yeah Teng? what is wrong with her?
Uncle Teng :: it was not her but there was an incident that makes me not to sure of making her as my wife.
dad :: and what was it exactly?
Uncle Teng :: she spilled her curry all over me , mom, dad. it ruined my first impression of her.
mom :: but son,it was only an accident right? it is not like she's doing it on purpose. why don't you think of it that way?
dad :: there you go son, i think perhaps she is the one for you don't you think?
Uncle Teng :: yeah dad,i think so.
mom :: how about her family?
Uncle Teng :: she got a lovely grandmother that raised her well and know how to disciplined her. she also got a younger brother which i thought was spoil by her grandmother.
dad :: well, it's kind of a relief to hear. i can assume that she has a good family background and well- raised. that is important when you want to have a daughter in law . for sure i want her to be a good girl because she is going to carry our dignity once she marries you, my son.
mom :: i agree with your dad. but nevertheless this matter must be taken seriously because it involves you life, your responsibility and your happiness.
Uncle Teng :: yes mom, dad. i will think of it thoroughly before making my decision.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
birthday ~ lee kok liang 2
chinese birthday buns
red string symbolize love
THEME
Match making
In this short story, we can see that the grandmother trying so hard to match making 'she' with Uncle Teng. The grandmother is strict about the match making because at that time, in Chineseculture, women are suppose to get married at 18 years old meanwhile the protagonist age now is 25 years old. Therefore, grandmother is angry to wards the protagonist when what she had planned didn't go as she plan.
CHARACTERS & CHARACTERISTICS
1) She ( The Protagonist )
- had her mother's eyes & her grandfather's chin.
- obedient since she obeyed to her grandmother
- know how to cook since she is the one who cook for the dinner.
- match maker because she wants the protagonist to get married with Uncle Teng.
- strict since she made some rules around the house.- The protagonist lit the candle since there were no eletric lights.
3) UncleTeng
- A friend of grandmother
- friendly - he knows how to mix around with others ( ex. C.B )
PLOT
Exposition
- The story starts with the protagonist looking out the window and wishing that she could get married and having a baby. It is also when the narrator introduce the grandmother, who take care of the protagonist & C.B
Conflict
- It starts when grandmother introduce Uncle Teng to the protagonist to be her husband. Grandmother tried to match making both of them. This is because she didn't get married yet eventhough she is 25 years old.
- It was when the protagonist accidentally spilled over the curry onto Uncle Teng's pants. The grandmother was very angry and te protagonist was punished- not alowed to eat dinner for that night.
- She was cursed by grandmother because of her mistakes and she has to be a spinster for the rest of her life because of that mistake. The short story ends with the protagonist missing her mother.
Monday 1 August 2011
birthday ~ lee kok liang
1)Does the protagonist has a name?
- No since no name was mention in the short story except for Uncle Teng and C.B.
2) Whose birthday is this?
- The protagonist since there is a scene which mention that she is twenty-five years old today and the scene
describe how she celebrate her birthday alone.
3) How Chinese culture did help to make you understand more?
- It helps me understand more about the "red string" which means the bond of love between man and woman that has been decided by God. Other than that, chinese people believe that red represents the prosperity of life.
- No since no name was mention in the short story except for Uncle Teng and C.B.
2) Whose birthday is this?
- The protagonist since there is a scene which mention that she is twenty-five years old today and the scene
describe how she celebrate her birthday alone.
3) How Chinese culture did help to make you understand more?
- It helps me understand more about the "red string" which means the bond of love between man and woman that has been decided by God. Other than that, chinese people believe that red represents the prosperity of life.
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