1. Highlight a few moral values that you can learn from Novel The Curse.

Support
your answer with evidence from the novel
There are many moral values found in The Curse by Lee Su Ann. The story is set in an
island off Langkawi Island. The Curse revolves around the events surrounding the death of a
village girl, Madhuri, who is also the adopted sister of the main character, Azreen.
The first moral value is bravery. This value is shown by Azreen. First, even as a young
girl she takes challenges and tries to prove to her friends that the Old Lady is not an evil
witch. When she is yelled at for entering the Old Ladys house and destroying her vegetable
garden, Azreen bravely defends herself. In fact, she returns the next day and repairs the
trampled garden. Her action wins the Old Ladys heart.
The second evidence is when Azreen bravely takes the blame for Mohd Asraf in the bull
incident. She demonstrates courage. The same bull later injures her mothers leg causing him
to lose the use of her leg. She was blamed and scolded by her father as well as the villagers.
She bravely endures that and never tells anyone of what really happened.
Her bravery is once again tested. The third event that displays her bravery is when she
tries to tackle the angry mob who are about to attack the the Old Lady. When the Old Ladys
house is in fire, Azreen tries to rescue the Old Lady but at the end she has to be rescued by
her father. When the Old Lady dies in the tragic fire, she confronts Mohd Asraf like a
wildcat.
Finally, towards the end of the story, she finds out the secret that her father has been
keeping. She confronts her father about Madhuris murder until he is forced to confess about
the truth. She is very brave to confront people whom she knows have done wrong to others.
At the same time she is very brave when defending herself and the people she loves.

2. Write about a moral value you have learnt in the story. Support your answer with
evidence from the novel
The novel that I choose is The Curse by Lee Su Ann. The story is about the mysterious
death of Azreens adopted sister, Madhuri, and how Azreen goes through everything to find
out the truth behind the death. A moral value that I have leant in the story is bravery.
This value is shown by Azreen. First, even as a young girl she takes challenges and tries to
prove to her friends that the Old Lady is not an evil witch. When she is yelled at for entering
the Old Ladys house and destroying her vegetable garden, Azreen bravely defends herself.
In fact, she returns the next day and repairs the trampled garden. Her action wins the Old
Ladys heart.
The second evidence is when Azreen bravely takes the blame for Mohd Asraf in the bull
incident. She demonstrates courage. The same bull later injures her mothers leg causing her
to paralyze. She was blamed and scolded by her father as well as the villagers. She bravely
endures that and never tells anyone of what really happened.
The third event that displays her bravery is when she tries to tackle the angry people who
are about to attack the the Old Lady. When the Old Ladys house is in fire, Azreen tries to
rescue the Old Lady but at the end she has to be rescued by her father. When the Old Lady
dies in the tragic fire, she confronts Mohd Asraf like a wildcat.
Finally, towards the end of the story, she finds out the secret that her father has been
keeping. She confronts her father about Madhuris murder until he is forced to confess about
the truth. As conclusion, bravery is the moral value that I have learnt through Azreen. For me,
Azreen is very brave to confront people whom she knows have done wrong to others. At the
same time she is very brave when defending herself and the people she loves.

3. Write on an important event in novel The Curse. Support your answer with
evidence from the novel
In the novel The Curse by Lee Su Ann, an important event is the outbreak of the fire
which results in the Old Ladys death.
Firstly, it is an important event because after this event, it creates a domino effect on a
number of other events which in turn helps Azreen to finally solve the mystery behind her
sisters murder. The fire enrages Azreen and like a wildcat, she confronts Mohd Asraf. He
apologises and admits that he had been too grief-stricken to be rational when he has lost two
important people in his life his secret lover, Madhuri and his grandmother, Nek. After the
fire which kills the Old Lady who is trapped in the fire, Awang, the bomoh informs Azreen
that Madhuri is not her biological sister. The secret about Madhuris identity is finally
disclosed by Azreens father who reveals that Madhuri is adopted. Moreover, the village
Pontianak is actually Madhuris biological mother who returns to the village to seek revenge
over her daughters death. According to Awang, the ghostly figure is also the vengeful
spirit that has killed Azreens chicken.
Secondly, it is an important event because we are finally shown the reason for Madhuris
murder and the culprit. When Azreen confronts her father, Encik Saleh defiantly confesses
that he had accidentally murdered Madhuri after learning that Madhuri, a married woman,
commits adultery when she secretly sees another man.He confronts Madhuri and during the
struggle, Madhuri falls to the ground and her head knocks over the latex cup which stains her
clothes. A distraught Azreen flees after hearing the shocking news while Encik Saleh comes
face-to-face with the shadowy woman Madhuris mother who nears him with a parang in
her hand. Saleh collapses and dies of a heart attack.
Thirdly, the fire at the Old Ladys house is the climax of the novel. From that point
onwards, events dramatically unfold and Azreen gets to the bottom of the mystery. Azreen
puts the pieces of facts here and there together and begins to understand the reasons behind
the cover-up of Madhuris murder by her husband, Haji Ghani. Most importantly, we are also
exposed to the crime of the villagers who are willing to do anything including planning an
attack on the innocent and harmless Old Lady just because of superstition. Under the
instigation of Puan Normala, the villagers are convinced to believe that the Old Lady
possesses a special power to turn people into rats and squirrels, so the latter is accused to be
an evil witch who brings all the misfortunes and bad omen to the village. In fact, when the
rain continues to pour for more than four days, causing the town to be flooded, the Old Lady
is blamed to have put the curse on the village. From this event, we can see how gullible the
villagers are to believe the vicious rumours spread by the village gossiper, Puan Normala. At
the same time, through this event too that we see the purity of the Old Ladys heart. Despite
being ostracised by the villagers, the Old Lady bears no grudges and is still willing to help
people like Asrafs Nek. More importantly, the Old Lady at the point of her death before the
burning house collapses on her, she reminds Azreen to forgive all the villagers who have
wronged her.
In conclusion, the fire is the most important event as it is the catalyst for many more
events in which makes the stories more interesting.

4. Write on the theme of love based on novel The Curse. Support your answer with
evidence from the novel.
The Curse written by Lee Su Ann touches on many aspects of life. Basically, all the
aspects revolve around our own community and can be used as guidance in our life.
The theme of love is actually the main conflict in this whole novel. Firstly, we can see
this aspect between mother and child when we read how loving was Azreen towards her
mother when she came back from London. She realized her mother still does not know about
the death of her sister, Madhuri. Azreen took over the duty to take care of her mother who
was suffering from Alzheimers disease which was getting worse. Azreen cooked porridge
for her mother like Madhuri used to do and fed her. This shows that Azreen loves her mother
very much and feels responsible to take care of her after her sisters death.
The concept of love can also be seen through Encik Saleh who loves his daughters very
much but does not know how to show it. He kept his love within him and was always looking
fierce and angry towards his daughters and wife. He loved his family very much and that is
why he worked hard on the farm.He also repairs chicken coop, repairs fencse and roofs
and chops wood in order to earn a living for his family. As a hard-working man, he wanted
to give his family the best out of him due to his love towards them which he does not show
openly. Here, I admit that I admire Encik Saleh as a loving father towards his family but he
should have shown his love in a more appropriate way.
Lastly, the concept of love can be seen in the characters of the Old Lady and Azreen.
Azreen was very lucky to find a meaningful and comfortable relationship with the Old Lady
of the forest. She was very close to the Old Lady until she told her all her secrets. She always
goes and visits the Old Lady whenever she felt bored, angry or happy. This shows that
Azreen really loves the Old Lady and does not give a single thought to what the villagers say
about the Old Lady. Azreens love towards the Old Lady was very strong until she was
willing to go into the burning house in order to save the Old Lady. But, faith wins. The Old
Lady died in the fire while Azreen was saved by her father due to his love towards his
daughter. As we can see, the concept of love is very strong throughout the novel. Each and
every character in this novel has the desire to love and to be loved.

5. Write on the theme of forgiveness in based on novel The Curse. Support your
answer with evidence from the novel
Lee Su Ann, the writer of the novel The Curse had brought up many themes in her
writing. One of the themes that I liked very much in this novel is forgiveness which was
clearly portrayed in Azreens character.
As we know from the beginning, Azreen is a very outspoken, aggressive and stubborn
character but towards the ending of the story she had learnt to forgive others. Azreen was
very much influenced by the Old Lady who begged Azreen to learn to forgive others at the
time of her death. We can see very much that Azreen kept her promise when she forgave
Mohd Asraf who had deliberately played with her emotions. All the while Azreen thought
Asraf liked her but, Asraf was actually falling for Madhuri and when he admitted that to
Azreen, she was speechless at first. Azreen hid herself from Asraf by running away until she
reached the cliff of the hills when Asraf confessed his love towards Madhuri. But as time
passed, her anger melted away slowly and she forgave Asraf as the Old Lady had told to her
just before she died.
Azreen too learnt to forgive her father who murdered Madhuri. Even though she felt sad at
first but she did not feel angry or resentment at him but she realized that she had lost her only
father that she used to know as a very hot-tempered man. Slowly Azreen forgave her father
but she could not see him eye to eye so she left him alone and that was the time when Encik
Saleh had a heart attack and collapsed. But if at all Azreen had not promised the Old Lady to
forgive others, I do not think that she would forgive her father for murdering Madhuri.
Azreen too forgave Madhuri for all the hurt and resentment she caused in Azreens life.
Azreen was jealous of Madhuris beauty and genteel behavior. She was the favourite
daughter. She also resented Madhuri as Madhuri was able to captivate Asraf who eventually
fell in love with her. But, when Azreen discovers that Madhuri was adopted and the truth
about Madhuris murder at the hands of her own father, she feels nothing but pity for poor
Madhuri. Finally she forgives her sister, Madhuri.
Last but not least, Azreen also forgave Asraf and wished him luck from the bottom of her
heart when he left Langkawi to take a teaching course in KL. When she read a note from him,
she did not feel angry but she smiled after reading the note and also questioned herself
whether she had learnt to forgive others. From Azreens character, I too learnt to forgive
others in my life if they hurt my feelings. Being revengeful will not give us anything in life
except the negative value.
From the evidence above, the theme of forgiveness had been portrayed very well in this
novel through the protagonist, Azreen. I hope each and every human will learn to forgive
others in their life.

6. Write on the theme of Mothers Love in novel The Curse. Support your answer
with evidence from the novel.
The novel The Curse by Lee Su Ann touches on many values that are useful in our daily
lives. As for me, I am touched with the value of mothers love in this novel.
Azreens mother is forever seen talking nonsense since her Alzheimers disease was
becoming worse. She was not given a name in this novel but always referred to as Mak.
Azreen felt guilty because she was the one who was responsible for her mother to lose one of
her leg. Even though, we know that Azreen admitted leaving the gate of the farm open but
actually she was only helping Mohd Asraf from being blamed. Due to her act, her parents met
with an accident when her fathers motorcycle hit the bull. Azreens mother never hated
Azreen for what had happened and she always loved Azreen. She even told Azreen that it
was not her fault that she lost her leg in the accident. This proves that Mak was never angry
towards Azreen and she accepts what happened to her as faith. This shows the true love that a
mother has for her child even though she is in pain.
Another incident that showed how true a mothers love is when Madhuris mother, the
mad lady who strolled in the village and always watched over her daughter. Even though
Madhuri was raised by Encik Saleh and his wife from a baby, the mad lady always kept
herself close to Madhuri. She used to watch Madhuri and Azreen when they come back from
school. This shows that she still loved her daughter even though she gave in when her baby
was lost. She knew she could not raise Madhuri in a proper way so she just kept quite when
Encik Saleh took the baby and decided to raise the child. But as a mother, she still loved
Madhuri and always sees how her daughter is living with her foster parents from far. This is
what we call mothers love. Even if the child is not with the real mother but she always pray
for her child to lead a happy life and that is why she took revenge against Encik Saleh who
killed Madhuri.
From these two mothers, the readers are shown the value of love that a mother has for a
child. Both mothers in this novel are not normal in certain ways but their love for their
children did not fade but they loved their daughters very much in their own different ways.

7. After you finished read Novel The Curse, what lessons that you get? Support your
answer with evidence from the novel
The Curse by Lee Su Ann has many lessons for its readers. One of the lessons, truth will
be known and secrets will not last forever. There are a few characters who keep secrets and
eventually the secrets are exposed.
Firstly, Mohd. Asraf and Madhuri. They were secret lovers. They planned secretly to run
away to Kuala Lumpur. After Madhuri died followed by his grandmothers death, he almost
lost his mind. Keeping his secret love was very difficult. He was easily influenced by Puan
Normala that his grandmother was poisoned by Old Lady. That was the reason he burned the
Old Ladys house causing her death. Finally, he realises his mistakes and comes to his senses.
Secondly, En Saleh Abdullah, Azreens father. He was always proud of Madhuri. Madhuri
made him proud when she agreed to marry the village headman, Haji Ghani. When her affair
was discovered, Encik Saleh gets very angry and accidentally killed Madhuri. He never tells
anyone and until Azreen confronts him. Actually, he is ashamed because the daughter he was
really proud of, had an affair and tried to run away. He keeps seeing a ghost. He suffers a
heart attack and dies.
In conclusion, dark secrets only make life difficult. The evidence in the story has shown us
that. Any dark secrets we have may destroy our lives. We may lose the people we love.
Always be true to ourselves and do not take advantage of others. Always think before we act