LITERATURE AND GENDER (UE01902)

ASSIGNMENT 1 TOPICS (LONG ESSAY)

Instructions: In pair choose ONE of the following topics and write an essay between 8 and 10pages by
using at least FIVE reference materials.

Format: Times New Roman 12; 1.5spacing

QUESTION 1

Read the following excerpt from the short story “A Scent of Tobacco Smoke” and answer questions (a)
and (b):

“Then as I stood on the veranda I felt a tremendous force full of resentment directed at me. I stood
paralysed with fear, unable to move I felt his emotion sweep over me.” (pg. 3)

a. The quote above involves two narrators and the layered voices of the narrators. Who are the
narrators? Why do you think the layered voices are necessary for a short story like “A Scent of
Tobacco Smoke” which deals briefly with the history of Sabah (Prisoners of War; the Death
March)? In what ways do you think a feminized account of history challenges existing mind sets
regarding patriarchy and traditional male-centred hegemony?
b. Since the short story involves both female and male voices from the perspective of white people
who have spent their lives in Sabah, to what extent do you think this text is gendered? Or is it
centred on race?

QUESTION 2

Read the short stories “The Shoes” and “Unforgettable Friday Rain” and answer the following questions:

a. Who are the narrators of these two short stories? In what ways do you think the narrator of
“The Shoes” share similarities with the narrator of “Unforgettable Friday Rain”? How does the
definition/understanding of spirituality differ between the two short stories?
b. Do the male narrators of the two short stories follow the traditional hierarchical understanding
of male domination? Or did they display a reconstructed definition of masculinity that
challenges traditional notions of gender as a binary concept?