Name : Danial Musa
Class : 4/4

Literature Holiday Homework.

Evening Under The Frangipani

Conflicts : (internal)
An internal conflict is that Prakash is unsure of himself and lacks the confidence before going for his job interview. He feels quite disheartened and stressed about whether he did well for his interview.

Conflicts : (external)
It is where Prakash went to Elaine’s house and met her mother. Elaine’s mother is crude and sarcastic towards Prakash. Prakash too, acted sarcastically towards her.

Climax
I think the climax of the story is when Prakash and Elaine broke up. And because of that, the story no longer focuses on the love between them but on separation and loneliness thus making it a major turn in the storyline.

Resolution
The story has an open ending. Prakash and Elaine went their separate ways instead of getting back together.

Characters
Prakash : He is physically fit (when he opened the pamelo, pg 56~57)
: Easily amused (laughed at Elaine’s father’s hands while kissing, pg 62)

Elaine : Easily Offended (did not like prakash’s joke, pg 62)
: Hardworking (determined to get promoted, pg 68)

Elaine’s mother : Sarcastic (during dinner with prakash, pg 59)
: Successful (she is a lawyer, pg 54)

In my opinion, the most interesting segment in the story is when Prakash and Elaine met at the park. It was Elaine’s intention to meet their as she wanted to tell Prakash something important, that her parents are going to Malaysia and they have the whole house to themselves. While doing so, Elaine was touched when Prakash took out a pamelo and uses his strong arms to rip it open.


Lee

Conflicts : (internal)
There is an internal conflict with the father in the story. He does not want Lee to have the 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)

Conflicts : (external)
There is an external conflict between Lee and her father. The both of them have rather contradicting cultural views. Less is more supportive towards western culture while her father supports traditional Chinese culture. Lee’s father often tries to encourage his culture views on her but Lee would always refuse to accept it. (pg 102~103)

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 end, both Lee and her father realize that they both have something in common. They were willing to accept each other’s cultural differences and views (pg 106~107)

Characters
Lee : Likes to use vulgar language (pg 90)
: Likes to criticize (calls the Merlion “Tacky”, pg 95)

Father : Easily Irritated (unhappy with the way Lee dresses, pg 97)
: Traditional (prefers to stick with his own culture, pg 103)

Lee’s grandma : Traditional (pg99)
: Concerned (afraid of what Lee might be eating, pg 100)

The most interesting segment of the story is when Lee went to her grandmother’s house for a family reunion. At the 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.


Release

Conflict : (internal)
The internal conflict in the story is between Eileen’s desire to complain to the neighbours and he 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.

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.

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.

Characters
Eileen: Easily agitated (upset about the guava tree even though it was not hers pg 141)
: Good at mothering (takes care of her baby no matter what pg 143~144)

Philip : Easy-going (he always gives in to his neighbor pg 141~142)
: Gullible (easily convinced by simple blueprints pg 142~143)

Neighbours : They must have things their way (pg141)
: Impolite (compared Eileen’s pregnancy with their dogs pg 140)

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 gentle with the baby which wiped out any possibility of violent 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 this 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.

Climax
The climax happened 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. (pg156)

Resolution
The resolution in this story is complete as the aunt has pretty much lived a full and fulfilling life despite some setbacks. At the end, she died peacefully, knowing that the life she lived is not quite fortunate compared to the lives of people today.

Characters
Aunt : Obedient (she always did the chores her parents assigned her, pg 152)
: Hardworking (she helps the author’s grandma by doing chores, pg 149)

Dressmaker : Kind-hearted (he told aunt not to go to work on realizing the soldier’s intentions, pg 158)
: Welcoming (offered tea to the Japanese occupiers’, pg 157)

Aunt’s Parents : Old Fashioned (they prefer to have son, pg151)
: Caring (sent aunt to another family for a better life, pg 153)

The most interesting segment in this story is when aunt joined another family. It is pretty much the start of a new life for aunt and a lot of unexpected things can happen from this point until the end of the story. It made me wonder whether aunt will finally be treated fairly or whether she will still be treated as she was with her old family.


A History Of Tea

Conflict : (internal)
An internal conflict in the story is when Beverly mentioned that she is going to China and is looking forward to it. This is despite the fact that she knows that most travelers find the food terrible and expensive. (pg 112)

Conflict : (external)
An external conflict in this 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 against the Chinese government, who opposed the trade of opium for fear of their addictive and dangerous values. (pg 119~120)

Climax
I think the climax began when Beverly mentioned 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 a chance to explore beautiful Asia. (pg113)

Resolution
The resolution of the story is more of a revelation in my opinion. Nothing much happened in the end besides the fact that the conversation end.

Characters
Beverly : Smart (planned to study history at Oxford/Cambridge, pg 111)
: Understanding (understands her mother’s love for tea, pg 111)

Aunt Sherrie : Tea addict (pg 111)
: Religious (does not approve of Beverly’s Jewish Boyfriend, pg 119)

Grandmother : Religious (churchgoer, pg 117)
: Traditional (maintains Chinese traditions, pg 115)

The most interesting segment of this story is when Beverly talks about her Jewish Boyfriend and how her parents do not approve of her relationship with him. It surprises me that their religious views can be very narrow and made me curious about what Beverly will do about it.


Pastime

Conflict : (internal)
An internal conflict in this story is that the story which Tai Poh claims that is not true, might be true. It could be that does not want to tell Mr Lee the truth because he is too shy to talk about his past, so he tries to portray it as fiction. (pg 214)

Conflict : (external)
An external conflict was the story about Tai Poh, the one about a young man who decides to fight in the jungle. (pg 213)

Climax
I think 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 onwards.

Resolution
The resolution in 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 are best kept as stories.

Characters
Tai Poh : Creative (likes to make up stories to past the time, pg 212)
: Shy (never shares his stories, pg 212)

Mr Lee : Attentive (listens to Tai Poh’s story attentively, pg 216)
: Creative (makes up his own story after hearing Tai Poh’s, pg 217)

Man mentioned in Tai Poh’s story : Ambitious (full of dreams, pg 213)
: Reckless (joined a fighter group when he was young)

I think the most interesting segment of this story is when Mr Lee decided to tell Tai Poh his own story. This made the reader more interested in the story and made me wonder what Mr Lee was intending to hint at Tai Poh.