I will be returning on Monday, January 23. You will begin reading The Namesake with Ms. Newland. Everyone is responsible for his or her copy. They are available in the library.
All class material will be available below. Please note the order.
Background
material Page 2
The Namesake is the author Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel. In The Namesake, which received the New York Magazine Book of the
Year Award when it was published in 2003, Jhumpa Lahiri describes
first-generation American Gogol Ganguli's odyssey through the first thirty years
of his life as he grapples with the burden of conflicting loyalties that his
two opposing cultures, Indian and American, impose upon him.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Pre reading
writing
In a
well-written essay of approximately 250 words, share some of your family
traditions and where they originated from. Use vivid imagery (sight, sound,
smell, taste, sense); so as the reader can strongly experience these.
Please use
lined paper.
Begin with a MLA heading:
Your name
Instructor’s
name
English 3-
(3 / 7/ 8)
Date: day /
month / 2017
______________________________________________________
Name__________________________________ The
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Chronology of Events for
chapter 1Top of Form
Put these events into
chronological order by using the numbers 1(first event) —> 13 (last event)
______Ashima tries to make her favorite Calcutta snack
the right way in her apartment in Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
_____
Ashoke takes Ashima to Mount Auburn Hospital.
_____ Ashoke and his
parents meet Ashima and her parents in their home in Calcutta.
_____ Ashima finds out Ashoke’s name.
_____ Ashima Bhaduri marries Ashoke and
becomes Ashima Ganguli
_____ In the waiting room, Ashoke reads
articles in the Boston Globe about the riots that took place during the
Democratic National Convention in Chicago and Dr. Benjamin Spock’s two-year
sentence for having counseled draft evaders.
_____ Ashoke is almost killed in a train
accident.
______ Ashoke begins to read Nikolai Gogol’s
short story, The Overcoat.
______ Ghosh tells Ashoke about the importance of
seeing the world.
______ Without telling his family, Ashoke applies
to graduate schools abroad to continue his studies in engineering.
______ Ashoke has to learn how to walk again.
______ Patty gives Ashoke the news of his son’s
birth while he is thinking about how Nikolai Gogol saved his life.
______ Ashoke sets out on a journey to spend time
with his grandfather.
___________________________________________________________
Name____________________________ The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Chapter 1 True or False quiz grade.
Setting the Stage: Chapter 1
Chapter 1 -
1968
B. True or
False?
Write "T" or "F" next to these
statements. Explain to a partner why a statement is false.
_____ 1. Ashima spoke English perfectly in her first
years of residence in the U.S.A.
______ 2. Ashima has no sense of adventure
about her.
______ 3. Ashoke's grandfather believed
that you could see the world as an armchair traveler.
______ 4. Ashoke’s family encouraged him to
study abroad.
______ 5. Ashima’s mother did not want
Ashima to get married.
______ 6. Ashima never heard Ashoke’s voice
when she met him and his family.
______ 7. Ashoke could be described as a
bookworm.
______ 8. 1968 was a relatively calm year
in U.S. history.
______ 9. Ashoke is very religious.
______ 10. Ashoke suffers from
claustrophobia.
______ 11. Ashoke is very romantic and buys
Ashima flowers whenever he can.
______ 12. Ashima calls Ashoke by his first
name.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Name___________________________ The
Namesake by Jumpa Lahiri
Point-of-View Writing Chapter 1
Write a
paragraph with a minimum of 100 words on one of the following topics.
Begin with a
MLA heading Use lined paper writing grade!
1. You are Ashoke. Explain why you
didn't take your grandfather's advice and continue to see the world as an
armchair traveler, only through books. Talk about the train accident and how
your period of convalescence made you want to pursue your graduate studies abroad
and see the world during your youth, as Ghosh had urged you to do, before it
would be "too late" (16).
2. You are Ashima. Explain how your
first meeting with Ashoke and his parents was an expected event in your life.
Talk about your mother's efforts to make you look as beautiful as possible at
this meeting and why you laughed to yourself when you heard her
"salesmanship" (7) about your knitting talent. Explain how stepping
into Ashoke's shoes put you at ease and why Ashoke's mother's look of approval
made you feel good. Then write about your wedding day. Describe how you were
dressed and why, when you were carried to meet your groom on a piri that was
decorated by your father, your head was "bent low until you had circled
[Ashoke] seven times" (10).
_______________________________________________________________________________
Summary of chapter 1
1968
- It
is August 1968. Ashima and Ashoke are in their apartment in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
- Ashima
tries to make her favorite Indian snack, while Ashoke studies for his
electrical engineering degree in the bedroom.
- Ashima
starts to go into labor.
- The
couple heads to the hospital, and after checking Ashima in, Ashoke heads
to work. He's not staying for the birth.
- While
talking with a nurse, Ashima uses an Indian English idiom, but the nurse
thinks she has made an error, which reminds Ashima of how she met her
husband.
- Some
years ago, back in Calcutta, Ashima was a nineteen-year-old college
student working as an English tutor.
- When
Ashima's mother invited a bunch of potential suitors for Ashima over to
the house, one of them turned out to be Ashoke, who came to the house with
his parents in tow.
- Ashima saw Ashoke's shoes in the hallway,
and couldn't resist trying them on before she met him.
- They
marry. Ashima thinks back on that moment every Sunday, when Ashoke
polishes his shoes. And apparently she's thinking of it now, while she's
in labor with their first child.
- Meanwhile,
Ashoke has returned to the hospital at 4:30 a.m., where he paces the
waiting room.
- His
slight limp on his right foot reminds him of his accident.
- Back
in India, he was on his way to visit his beloved grandfather, who had
introduced him to the great works of Russian literature. His grandfather
had recently gone blind, though, so he was going to give all his books to
an eager Ashoke, who was on his way to pick them up.
- So,
on October 20, 1961, Ashoke was on a train from Calcutta to Jamshedpur, and one of his compartment-mates was a
middle-aged Bengali businessman named Ghosh, who encouraged Ashoke to
travel the world.
- As
Ashoke was reading Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat" in the early
morning hours, the train crashed. Half buried under the rubble, Ashoke was
nearly missed by the rescuers until a page from Gogol's short story caught
their attention. Gogol to the rescue.
- After
a year of recovery, Ashoke returned to college and graduated.
- Having
taken Ghosh's advice, Ashoke applied for graduate school at MIT. Time for
some world travel. He only told his parents his intentions when he was
awarded a fellowship, and it was too late for them to convince him not to
go.
- In
the midst of all these memories, a nurse walks in to the waiting room. Is
he a proud papa.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2 pages 22-47
Comparing
Cultures Name___________________ Chapter
2
Please
read pages 22-29 and respond to the following in complete sentences.
Setting
the Stage
1a. Who usually chooses a child’s name in the
United States?
1b. Who usually chooses a child’s
name in Bengali culture?
2a. When does a child get a
name in US culture?
2b. When does a child get a
name in Bengali culture?
3. Can people name their child
after another family member in US culture?
4. Can people name their child
after another family member in Bengali culture?
____________________________________________________
chapter 2 explaining reasons Name___________________________
Complete the following sentences based upon
your reading of chapter 2
1. Ashima and Ashoke cannot name Baby
Ganguli because they
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. The baby cannot leave the hospital
because he
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Bengali parents cannot name a child
after another family member because each
name _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Benglais actually have two names
because one name is
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Ashoke and Ashima agree to give
their baby the name Gogol because
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2 cumulative assessment. Name________________________________________
Part 1. Imagine you are Ashima. Please respond to the following statements by
writing negative or positive as to how you would feel as Ashima starting your
life in America.
1. the frigid winter
________________________
2. her
three-room apartment ________________________
3. roaches in the bathroom ________________________
4. powerful cooking gas _______________________
5. hot tap water _______________________
6. leafless streets ________________________
7. cold drinking water ________________________
8. dog urine and excrement in the snowbanks ________________________
9. no amenities, no help, in the apartment ________________________
10. caring neighbors
_________________________
Part 2. You
are Ashima. You have just arrived in America, and you want your family in India
to know that all is well with you. Write a letter to the family describing what
is positive about your life in America. Weave in textual evidence from
chapter 2. Minimum 200 words. Please
proof read for correct language conventions. Use lined paper, beginning with a MLA heading.
______________________________________________________________________________
THE NAMESAKE CHAPTER 2
SUMMARY
- At 5:05 in the morning, Ashima
and Ashoke welcome their son into the world, and while they're still in
the hospital, three Bengali friends visit them.
- Having allowed Ashima's
grandmother to name their child, Ashima and Ashoke have to wait for the grandmother's
letter, since neither family has a telephone in India. But over a month
has gone by, and there's still no letter. So what in the world are they
supposed to call the baby?
- Ashima spends three days in the
hospital. Still no letter. Finally, since the hospital won't discharge the
baby without a name, Ashoke decides to name him Gogol. It's forever entered into the birth
certificate bureaucracy.
- When they return home, their
landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, come downstairs from their apartment
to see Gogol. The Montgomerys bring their two young daughters along.
- At first depressed and
overwhelmed by the burden of caring for a new one, Ashima soon begins to
develop some independence and goes out into the world. She shops, she takes
her son out on walks.
- In November, Ashima and Ashoke
receive a letter from Ashima's father dated three weeks before, which
tells them the sad news that Ashima's grandmother had a stroke. The
chances of ever getting that letter from grandma with Gogol's name in it
are looking pretty slim.
- In February, Ashima and Ashoke
celebrate Gogol's annaprasan, or rice ceremony, at which a baby is fed rice for the
first time. While Gogol totally digs the rice pudding, he does not enjoy
the end of the ceremony, in which some dirt, a ballpoint pen, and a dollar
bill are set before him. According to tradition, his choice will determine
his future career.
- Unfortunately, little Gogol
doesn't pick anything – he just wails.
- Now it's August, and Gogol is
one year old. Ashima and Ashoke are eagerly planning a family visit to
Calcutta in December.
- After a trip into Boston with
Gogol to buy gifts for her family, Ashima accidentally leaves all her bags
on the subway. When Ashoke calls up the lost and found the next day, they
find that some ridiculously nice person has saved the bags and turned them
in.
- One night, Ashoke and Ashima
are awoken by a phone call from Rana, Ashima's brother in India. Ashoke
speaks to Rana first, and then he hands the phone over to his wife.
- After they get off the phone,
Ashoke realizes that Rana hasn't told Ashima the bad news: her father has
died of a heart attack.
- Six days later, Ashoke, Ashima,
and Gogol head for Calcutta, feeling pretty blue.
____________________________________________________________________________
