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CONPLT

Prelim

Ma’am, Josha Reblando

1 CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

Is literature written after World War II through the current day. Works
of contemporary literature reflect a society's social and/or political viewpoints,
shown through realistic characters, connections to current events and
socioeconomic messages. The writers are looking for trends that illuminate
societal strengths and weaknesses to remind society of lessons they should
learn and questions they should ask. Popular literature includes those
writings intended for the masses and those that find favor with large
audiences. It can be distinguished from artistic literature in that it is designed
primarily to entertain.

Literature of the 20th century refers to world literature produced during


the 20th century. The range of years is written from 1900 through the 1990s.
Technological advances during the 20th century allowed cheaper production
of books, resulting in a significant rise in production of popular literature and
trivial literature, comparable to the development in music. Towards the end
of the 20th century, electronic literature developed as a genre due to the
development of hypertext and later the world wide web.

Contemporary literature reflects current trends in life and culture,


these things change often, contemporary literature changes as well. It reflects
the author's perspective and can come across as cynical. It questions facts,
historical perspectives and presents two contradictory arguments side by

1
side. Post-modern literature. It includes literature written after World War
Two through the present and includes several unique identifying
characteristics. Although difficult to comprehensively define, some of the most
2 obvious characteristics include multiple narrators, literature that
comments upon itself, a mixture or pastiche of subjects and genres, and
experimentation with form and structure. After World War II, the world had a
different perspective on things. It changed rapidly and literature changed with
it, almost as rapidly, despite the fact that some authors held onto their
existing beliefs. These changes stemmed from a belief that continues to grow
today, the belief that there is no God. After the horrors of the war, many people
came to the conclusion that God was either dead or did not exist in the first
place, which brought with it the idea that maybe life was meaningless. Writers
struggled to communicate in a way that showed the world how to cope with
this "truth."

Sept. 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland, inciting Poland’s allies Britain and France to


declare war on Germany.

Sept. 2, 1945

WWII ended with the Japanese surrender.

Adolf Hitler

Was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945.

2 THE REBIRTH OF FREEDOM

From 1946 onward, the country celebrated its Freedom Day from the
US every July 4, until President Diosdado P. Macapagal decided in 1962 to

2
move the date of the celebration to June 12, the day in 1898 when Philippine
Revolutionary.

The Rebirth of Freedom (1946-1970)

The Americans returned in 1945. Filipinos rejoiced and guerillas who


fled to the mountain joined the liberating American Army.

3 On July 4, 1946

The Philippines regained is freedom and the Filipino flag waved joyously
alone. The chains were broken.

The State of Literature During this Period

The early post-liberation period was marked by a kind of “struggle of


mind and spirit” posed by the sudden emancipation from the enemy,
and the wild desire to see print.

Heart of the Islands (1947)

A collection of poems by Manuel Viray.

Philippines Cross Section (1950)

A collection of prose and poetry by Maximo Ramos and Florentino


Valeros.

Prose and Poems (1952)

By Nick Joaquin

Philippine Writing (1953) Philippine Writing (1953)

By T.D. Agcaoili

Philippine Havest

By Amador Daguio

3
Horizons Least (1967)

A collection of works by the professors of UE, mostly in English (short


stories, essays, research papers, poem and drama) by Artemio Patacsil
and Silverio Baltazar The themes of most poems dealt with the usual
love of nature, and of social and political problems. Toribia Mañ o’s
poems showed deep emotional intensity.

Who Spoke of Courage in His Sleep

By NVM Gonzales

Speak Not, Speak Also

By Conrado V. Pedroche
Other poets were Toribia Mañ o and Edith L. Tiempo, Jose Garcia Villas
HAVE COME, AM HERE won acclaim both here and abroad.

The New Filipino Literature During this Period

Philippines literature in Tagalog was revived during this period. Most


themes in the writings dealt with Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of
life under the Japanese government and the brave guerilla exploits.

Period of Activism (1970-1972)

Many young people became activists to ask for changes in the


government. In the expression of this desire for change, keen were the
writings of some youth who were fired with nationalism in order to
emphasize the importance of their petitions.

The Literary Revolution

The youth became completely rebellious during this period. This was
proven not only in the bloody demonstrations and in the sidewalk
expressions but also in literature. Campus newspapers showed
rebellious emotions. The once aristocratic writers developed awareness

4
for society. They held pens and wrote on placards in red paint the
equivalent of the word MAKIBAKA (To dare!).

Writing During the Period of Activism

The irreverence for the poor reached its peak during this period of the
mass revolution. It was also during this period that Bomba films that
discredit our ways as Filipinos started to come out.

Palanca Awardees for Literature in English

Established in 1950, the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature had


been giving cash prizes for short story, poetry and one-act play
writing as an incentive to Filipino writers. The prizes come from La
Tondena, Inc., the firm founded by the late Carlos Palanca Sr.

Period of the New Society (1972-1980)

The period of the New Society started on September 21, 1972. The
Carlos Palanca Awards continued to give annual awards. Almost all
themes in most writings dealt with the development or progress of the
country –like the Green Revolution, family planning, proper nutrition,
environment, drug addiction and pollution. The New Society tried to
stop pornography or those writings giving bad influences on the
morals of the people. All school newspapers were temporarily stopped
and so with school organizations.

Filipino Poetry During the Period of the New Society

Themes of most poems dealt with patience, regard for native culture,
customs and the beauties of nature and surroundings.

The Play Under the New Society

The government led in reviving old plays and dramas, like the Tagalog
Zarzuela, Cenaculo and the Embayoka of the Muslims which were
presented in the rebuilt Metropolitan Theater, the Folk Arts Theater and
the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

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Radio and Television

Radio continued to be patronized during this period. The play series like
SI MATAR, DAHLIA, ITO AND PALAD KO, and MR. LONELY were the
forms of recreation of those without television.

QUIZ – 1
20 – Items

Bomba Films – Film that want to stop in the New Society.

Palanca Memorial Awards – What do we call to the award that giving prize
for short story, poetry?

Period of Activism – What period when many young people became activist?

A collection of prose and poetry by Maximo Ramos and Florentino


Valeros – Philippines Cross Section is a.

WWII – Contemporary literature is a literature written after.

Free from the hands of the brutality – What is the meaning of “The chains
were broken”?

NVM Gonzales – Who Spoke of Courage in his Sleep is written by?

Speak Not, Speak Also – It is written by Conrado V. Pedroche.

Diosdado Macapagal – The president of the time of Dekada 70 story.

A collection of works by the professors of UE – Horizons Least is a?

Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of life under the Japanese


government and the brave guerilla exploits – What are the themes of
writing after the emancipation of Freedom in New Society?

September 1, 1939 – When did Germany Invades Poland, inciting Poland’s


allies Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

Adolf Hitler – Who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945?

Showed deep emotional intensity – Toribia Mano’s poems.

6
September 21, 1972 – The period of the New Society started on?

Mr. Lonely – One of the well-known Radio Program in the New Society.

June 12 – When is the Philippine Independence Day?

“struggle of mind and spirit” - The early post-liberation period was marked
by a kind of.

September 2, 1945 – WWII ended with the Japanese surrender in what date?

Heart of the Islands (1947) – It is a collection of poems by Manuel Viray.

3 THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS

Isabel Allende

August 2,1942
Lima, Peru
Author, Journalist
Spanish
Chilean American
National Prize for Literature
The story is first published in Spanish language as “La casa de los
espiritus” in 1982.

The story revolves around the life of the Trueba family. It covers four
generations of the family. Esteban and Alba are the two protagonist (Kalaban)
of the Novel.

Del Valle Family

A politician family.
Has a 2 siblings which is Rosa and Clara.

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Clara Del Valle

Is the youngest.
She has paranormal powers and keeps a detailed diary of her life.
Using her powers Clara predicts an accidental death in her family
which is Rosa her eldest Sister.

Rosa Del Valle

She is the oldest.


About to married to Esteban Trueba.
Rosa the Beautiful, has been killed by a poison intended for her father
who is running for the Senate.

Esteban Trueba

Rosa’s fiancé .
The owner of the Hacienda.
A poor miner named Esteban Trueba, is devastated and attempts to
mend his broken heart by devoting his life to uplifting his family
hacienda, The Las Tres Marias.
Through a combination of intimidation and reward systems, he
quickly earns/forces respect and labor from the fearful peasants and
turns “Tres Marias” into a model hacienda.
He turns the first peasant who spoke to him upon arrival, Pedro
Segundo, into his foreman, who quickly become the closest thing that
Trueba ever has to an actual friend during his life. Pedro Segundo
He rapes many of the peasant women, and his first victim, Pancha
Garcia, becomes the mother of his bastard son, who would eventually
become Esteban Garcia.

Pancha Garcia

Esteban Garcia’s mother. Esteban Garcia


Biological Grandson of Esteban Trueba
He is being discriminate and bullied by the other workers in Hacienda
because he is a sibling of a raped woman.

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Esteban Trueba

Esteban returns to the city to see his dying mother. After her death,
Esteban decides to fulfill her dying wish: “For him to marry and have
legitimate children.”
He goes to the Del Valle Family to ask for Clara’s hand in marriage.
Clara accepts Esteban’s proposal; she herself has predicted her
engagement two months’ prior, speaking for the first time in nine years.
During the period of their engagement, Esteban builds what everyone
calls “The big house on the corner,” a large mansion in the city where
the Trueba family will live for generations.

Ferula

Esteban Trueba’s Sister


She is the one who take care to their mother before he died.
Ferula comes to live with the newlyweds in the big house on the corner.
Ferula develops a strong dedication to Clara, which fulfills her need to
serve others.
However, Esteban’s wild desire to possess Clara and to monopolize her
love causes him to throw Ferula out of the house.
She curses him, telling that he will shrink in body and soul, and die
like a dog.

Clara Del Valle Trueba

Clara give birth to a daughter named Blanca and later, to twin boys
Jaime and Nicholas.
After the Earth Quake – Clara spends her time teaching and helping
pleasant children.

Blanca

She immediately befriends a young boy named Pedro Tercero, who is


the son of her father’s foreman.
During their teenage years, Blanca and Pedro Tercero eventually
become lovers.

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After the Earth Quake - Blanca fakes an illness so as to be sent back to
Las Tres Marias, where she can be with Pedro Tercero

The Earth Quake

That destroys part of the hacienda and leaves Esteban Injured, the
Truebas move permanently to Las Tres Marias.

Pedro Tercero

The son of Pedro Segundo (Their Foreman).


He banished from the Hacienda by Esteban, on account of his
revolutionary communist/socialist ideas.
Esteban succeeds in cutting off three of Pedro’s fingers.

Jean De Satigny

A visiting French count to hacienda, reveals Blanca’s nightly romps


with Pedro Tercero to her father.

Blanca

She finds out that she is pregnant with Pedro Tercero’s child.
His father Esteban is desperate to save the family honor, gets Blanca to
marry the French count by telling her that he has killed Pedro.
At first, she gets along with her new husband, but she leaves him
when she discovers his participation in sexual fantasies.
She returns to the Trueba household and name her daughter Alba.
Clara
Predicts that Alba will have a very happy future and good luck.
Her future lover, Miguel, happens to watch her birth, as he had been
living in the Trueba House with his sister, Amanda.

Alba

Is a solitary child who enjoys playing make believe in the basement of


the house and painting the walls of her room.

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Nicholas

Is eventually kicked out by his father, moving, supposedly, to North


America.

Miguel

Alba attends local college where she meets Miguel, now a grown man
and becomes his lover.
Miguel is a revolutionary, and out of love for him, Alba involves herself
in student protests against the conservative government.

Jaime

Is killed by power-driven soldiers along with other supporters of the


government.

Blanca and Pedro

Esteban helps Blanca and Pedro flee to Canada, where the couple
finally find their happiness.

Colonel Esteban Garcia

He made Alba as a prisoner.


Is the son of Esteban Trueba’s and Pancha Garcia’s illegitimate son,
and hence the grandson of Esteban Trueba.
During earlier visits to Trueba’s House, Garcia had molested Alba as a
child.
In pure hatred of her privileged life and eventual inheritance, Garcia
tortures Alba repeatedly, looking for information on Miguel.
He raped Alba, thus completing the cycle that Esteban Trueba put into
motion when he raped Pancha Garcia.

Miguel and Transito Soto

Esteban Trueba manages to free Alba with the help of Miguel and
Transito Soto, an old friend/prostitute from his days as young man.

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Esteban Trueba

After helping Alba write their memoir, Esteban Trueba dies in the
arms of Alba, accompanied by Clara’s spirit; he is smiling, having
avoided Ferula’s prophecy that he will die like a dog.
Alba explains that she will not seek vengeance on those who have
injured her, suggesting a hope that one day the human cycle of hate
and revenge can be broken. Alba writes the book to pass time while she
waits for Miguel and for the birth of her child.

4 THE HANDMAID’S TALE

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood


November 18, 1939
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
A Canadian writer best known for her prose fiction and for her feminist
perspective.

Offred

Offred is the narrator and protagonist of Margaret Atwood's The


Handmaid’s Tale.
She grew up in a world before Gilead and remembers her mother as an
outspoken feminist, the freedom she experienced during college with
her best friend, Moira, and her life with her husband, Luke, and their
daughter.

Commander Fred

Commander Frederick R. 'Fred' Waterford is the head of the


household where June Osborne is enslaved as the Handmaid Offred,
and the husband of Serena Joy.

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Serena Joy

She is the Wife of Commander Waterford, who is using June Osborne


as Offred to try and obtain a child, supposedly being unable herself to
conceive.

Ofglen

She is a Handmaid assigned to Commander Glen and is friends with


Offred.
She is revealed to be a member of an underground resistance named
Mayday. Her real name in the book it is never mentioned.

Nick

Commander Nicholas "Nick" Blaine is June Osborne's lover, and the


biological father of her second-born daughter, Holly (aka Nichole), in
The Handmaid's Tale.
Formerly a Guardian and driver serving Commander Fred and Serena
Waterford, he is a currently serving as a Commander in the Gilead
military stationed in Chicago.

Moira

She is June Osborne 's best friend since adolescence, who became
something of a legend amongst the other Handmaids for successfully
escaping the Red Center.

Luke

Lucas "Luke" Bankole is the husband of June Osborne and the father
of their daughter before Gilead 's formation.
He is separated from his wife and child when they are captured trying
to flee the country.

Professor Piexoto

Professor James Darcy Pieixoto is a minor character in The Handmaid's


Tale (Novel) and The Testaments and one of the discoverers of Offred's

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tapes (in which she refers about her time as Handmaid for
Commander Fred), now known as "The Handmaid's Tale".

QUIZ – 2
20 – Items

Clara – Who has the paranormal powers.

Margaret Atwood – Who is the author of the Handmaids Tale.

Jaime and Nicholas – Trueba’s Twin.

Offred – The main character of the Handmaids Tale. Del Valle Family – The
family of Clara and Rosa.

Pancha Garcia – Esteban Trueba

Esteban Trueba – Fiancé of Rosa.

Pedro Tercero – Lovers of Blanca.

Senate – Clara’s father is running in the?

Las Tres Marias – Hacienda of Esteban.

Jean de Satigny – French count and Blanca’s husband.

Ferula – Esteban’s sister.

Alba – Daughter of Blanca and Pedro.

Rosa – She died because of poison. Serena Joy – The Commanders wife.

Republic of Gilead – The Handmaid’s tale is set in the?

Old Testament – The Handmaid’s tale is inspired by the?

Commander Fred – The powerful one in the story of Handmaids tale.

Isabel Allende – Who is the author of the House of Spirits?

Aunt – The one who train the Handmaids

~End of Prelim~

14
CONPLT

Midterm

Ma’am, Josha Reblando

1 THE CORRECTIONS

By: Jonathan Franzen

August 17, 1959 (Age 54) Western Springs, Illinois.

Occupation: Novelist and Essayist.

Nationality: American

Genres: Literary fiction, Literary movement, Social realism.

Notable Works: The Corrections (2001), Freedom (2010).

Notable Awards: National Book Award 2001, James Tait Black


Memorial Prize 2002.

The Correction Character List:

 Chip Lambert

 Enid Lambert

 Alfred Lambert

 Julia Vrais

 Melissa Pacquette

 Denise

 Gitanus

 Gary Lambert

15
QUIZ – 1
20 – Items

Denise – A beautiful and pragmatic chef at a restaurant in Philadelphia?

Julia Vrais – Chip’s girlfriend (despite her marriage to the deputy prime
minister of Lithuania).

Chef – W ork of Denise in Philadelphia?

Railroad Engineer – Job of Albert Lambert.

3 – How many child Gary has?

Parkinson’s disease – Alfred Lambert disease?

Chip Lambert – The man who been fired by having in a relationship with
his student?

Enid Lambert – The mother who wants to manipulate and want to spends
their Christmas in St. Jude.

Melissa Pacquette – A very bright undergraduate student of Chip’s and


had relationship with him?

Jonathan Franzen – Author of the corrections?

Gitanus – He is Julia’s husband and a politician in Lithuania.

Gary – The oldest and something “momma’s boy” in lambert family.

University professor – Work of chip in New York?

Gary – Denise & lived in Philadelphia.

Caroline – Wife of Alfred?

Her boss knew about their affair – Reason why Denise got fired?

3 – Enid & Alfred have a ?

Railroad Signals Worker – Alfred Lambert had affair with a .

St. Jude – Hometown of family lambert?

Making wrong rights – What is the meaning of the corrections?

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2 FIRST LOVE, LAST RITES

By: Ian Mcewan

 Born: June 21, 1948 (Age of 73) Aldershot, England.

 Nationality: English

 Occupation: Novelist and Screenwriter.

First Love Last Rites

 Collection of Short Stories

The First Love Last Rites Character List:

 Narrator

 Sissel

 Adrian

8 Short Stories

 Last day of summer

 Homemade

 Butterflies

 Solid Geometry

 Conversation w/ a cupboard man

 Cocker at the theatre

 First love, Last rites

 Disguises

17
QUIZ – 2
20 – Items

New York – Chip is a professor in?

Denise – The youngest of the family

First love, last rights – Ian Mcewan, one of his short stories.

St. Jude – Where do Enid want to spend their Christmas?

Ian Mcewan – An author who Born: 21 June 1948.

Beyond Exploration of Sex – The story of First love, Last rites is about?

Twin Baby – Chip got a wife doctor and .

New York – After Christmas where did Denise start her new life?

Enid – The mother of the lambert family?

Ian Mcewan – Author of First love, Last rites?

8 – Ian Mcewan has collection of short stories.

The Corrections – A novel that written by Jonathan Franzen and published


by 2001.

Narrator – The who tell the story?

Banker – Gary’s job?

To have a better consultation – Reason why they want Alfred to go in


Philadelphia.

Alfred – The father of the lambert family?

Enid – The one who replace the position of Alfred in the family?

Adrian – Sissel’s brother.

Sissel – The lover of the narrator?

Jonathan Franzen – Born August 17, 1959.

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3 FREEDOM & MISTAKES WERE MADE

Freedom is a 2010 novel by American author Jonathan Franzen. It was


published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux Freedom received general acclaim
from book critics, was ranked one of the best books of 2010 by several
publications, and called by some critics the “Great American Novel.”

The novel follows the lives of the Berglund family, particularly the
parents Patty and Walter, as their lives develop and then their happiness
falls apart. Important to their story is a college friend of Walter’s and
successful rock musician, Richard Katz, who has a love affair with Patty.
Walter and Patty’s son, Joey, also goes through his own coming of age
challenges.

Franzen began working on the novel in 2001, following his successful


novel The Corrections. The title of the novel was an artifact of his book
proposal, where he wanted to write a novel that freed him from the constraints
of his previous work. The cover of many editions of the novel includes a
cerulean warbler, a songbird, for which Walter works to create an
environmental preserve.

The novel opens with a prologue-like chapter explaining that no one in


the Berglund’s old hometown of St. Paul. After this, the narrative shifts into a
long flashback as part of “Mistakes Were Made.” These flashback sections
inform the reader that Patty came from a well-connected family and was very
popular in high school due to her sport prowess. The reader also learns that
during high school, Patty was raped by a boy named Ethan Post, but her
parents convinced her to not press charges due to the fact that Patty’s parents
were political friends with Ethan’s parents.

19
Freedom and Mistakes Were Made Character list:

Patty

The mother and had an affair, athletes.

Walter

Environmental activist, husband and father of Joey and Jessica.

Joey

Husband of Connie, legitimate businessman.

Richard Katz

Had affair to Patty, longtime friend of Walter and Patty.

Eliza

The who introduced Patty to Walter & Richard.

Vin Haven

Introduced himself as a nature lover (bird).

Lalitha

Had an affair to Walter, died in a car accident, secretary/assistant


of Walter.

Berglund Family

Upper middle class family.

“Mistakes Were Made”

This section of the novel is a memoir narrated by Patty, but written in


3rd person. Patty explains that she was incredibly good at sports, and if she
was not an atheist, she would thank God for them (she played basketball and
softball). Patty then explains the following: she was the oldest of four siblings
living in Westchester County, NY. Her father was a lawyer and her mother
was a professional Democrat. 1 day, Patty went with her father to court;
afterwards, he explained that everyone involved with any trial are liars.

20
QUIZ – 3
20 – Items

Farrar, Straus and Giroux – The freedom was published by what


publishing house?

Mistakes were made – Freedom flashback story.

Patty/Walter – The parents of Jessica and Joey?

Connie – Joey’s wife.

Eliza – The one who introduced Patty to Walter and Richard Katz.

Lawyer – Patty’s father is a?

Freedom – It was called by some critics the “Great American Novel.”

Freedom – Is a 2010 novel by American author Jonathan Franzen.

Lalitha – Walter had an affair to?

Cerulean warbler – The birds that catch the eyes of Vin Haven.

Berglund family – The family from upper middle class?

9/11 attack – Event that made Joey’s feelings devastating.

Professional Democrat – Patty’s mother is a?

Ethan Post – First sexual intercourse of Patty is with whom?

Car accident – Lalitha died in a ?

Lakehouse – The place where the mistakes has happened.

Richard Katz – The successful rock musician.

St. Paul – Berglund’s family hometown.

Walter – He is environmental activist.

Richard Katz – Patty had affair to whom?

21
4 GHOST WRITTEN

Background of the author

David Mitchell

Full name: David Stephen Mitchell

Born: January 12, 1969 (age 52) Southport, Lancashire, England

English author whose novels are noted for their lyrical prose style and
complex structures.

Occupation: Novelist, television writer, screenwriter.

Notable Works: “Black Swan Green” “Cloud Atlas” “Ghostwritten”


“Number9dream” “Slade House”.

“The Bone Clocks” “The Thousands Autumns of Jacob de Zoet” “Utopia


Avenue”.

Ghostwritten won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for the best work of
fiction by a British author under

35 years of age.

Alma mater: University of Kent

Spouse: Keiko Yoshida

Children: 2

Important details:

Quasar

 A member of a millenarianism doomsday cult.

Hiding in Okinawa, first in the capital Naha, then in the small island of
Kumejima.

Posing as a computer employee.

22
Okinawa he disguise himself as Mr. Kobayashi a software engineer.

Unclean

 People who are not member of the cult.

Cleanse

 Will be able to live in the new earth.

Serendipity is a bodhisattva.

The leader of the cult.

Monk that refrains from entering nirvana to save others.

About the story characters:

Satoru

Foreigner customer

Takeshi

Taro

Mama-san

Sato-kun, akiko,tomomi

Ayaka

Mr.ikeda

Mr.fujimoto

Tomoyo

Okinawa

This section details the actions of Quasar, a member of a


millenarianist doomsday cult, attempting to evade capture after releasing
nerve agents into a Tokyo subway train. He believes himself to be able to
23
converse telepathically with 'His Serendipity', leader of the cult, and
regards modern society with disgust, waiting for an apocalyptic moment —
a comet's prophesied collision with earth.

He goes into hiding in Okinawa, first in the capital Naha, and then in
the small island of Kumejima. Posing as a computer employee on work
leave after his wife's death, his efforts to remain reclusive are hampered by
the friendliness of the town's other inhabitants. Meanwhile, mainland police
crack down on the cult, freezing its assets and arresting His Serendipity.

Running out of money and fearing he will soon be arrested, Quasar


calls a phone number supposedly provided by the cult, hoping to be tracked
down and rescued by the remaining members. As he waits on the island, he
reluctantly agrees to teach computing to students at a local school.

Tokyo

The next chapter focuses on Satoru, a young, lonely Japanese jazz


lover working in a record shop in downtown Tokyo. His mother was a
Filipina prostitute who was deported back to her country and he never met
his father, and he was raised by the madam of the whore-house. He plays the
tenor saxophone with his friend, Koji, and is frequently encouraged by
others to do more with his life.

One day, a group of girls come to the shop and he finds himself
enamoured with one of them, Tomoyo, although when she leaves he is
disappointed he will never see her again. Meanwhile, a regular customer of
the shop offers Satoru a job in a publishing company.

On a later occasion, having just closed up the shop, Satoru hears the
phone ringing from within and returns to answer it: it is the phone call from
Quasar in the previous chapter, although Satoru does not say anything in
reply. However, the tarrying to receive the call leads Satoru to another
chance encounter with Tomoyo. The pair strike up a conversation and start
a relationship, bonding over a love of jazz. She reveals she is half Japanese

24
and

25
half Chinese, and Satoru is devastated when she returns to Hong Kong,
where she lives. As she leaves, Koji encourages Satoru to follow her. The
section ends with Satoru calling Tomoyo, who has arrived in Hong Kong, and
the pair discuss plans for him to visit her.

Hong Kong

Neal Brose, an expat lawyer, lives alone on Lantau Island in an


apartment he used to share with his wife, Katy Forbes, who left him because
they could not have children. The apartment is haunted by the ghost of a girl,
although initially it is unclear if Brose is referring to her, to his ex-wife or to
his Chinese maid, with whom he is having an affair. Meanwhile, the owner of
the financial institution where Neal works, Denholme Cavendish, has asked
him to manage a secret bank account, number 1390931, belonging to Andrei
Gregorski from Saint Petersburg.

On the night preceding the day of the narrative, Satoru and Tomoyo
from the previous chapter, evidently in love, share a table with Brose in a
cafe. Their obvious affection for each other leads Brose to meditate on love
and the end of his own marriage to Forbes. That same evening, a policeman,
Huw Llewellyn, confronts Brose about the Gregorski account and demands
that Brose give him information. That night, Brose withdraws a large
amount of illicit cash and saves it in his apartment.

The next day, Brose suffers a breakdown; instead of going to work, he


climbs a hill towards the Tian Tan Buddha, along the way discarding his
belongings, a briefcase containing his cellphone and pager and his Rolex
watch. In the grip of a debilitating diabetic condition, he drops dead, causing
the investigation and crash of the financial institution for which he works.

Holy Mountain

This chapter relates the life of a woman who runs a Tea Shack on the
side of Mount Emei in China. As a young girl she is raped by the son of the
26
local warlord, and gives birth to a daughter who is raised by relatives in
Hong Kong. The woman believes that a tree outside the Tea Shack speaks to
her and gives her counsel.

Over the course of her life, her shack is destroyed several times; first
by the Japanese and then by the Communists. Each time, the woman
rebuilds the shack and tries to make a living, venting her anger at each
group's treatment of her village. Eventually, reformists arrive and open up
the shack and its surrounds to tourists, much to her chagrin. On one
occasion, she witnesses a man asking another tourist about the origins of a
Mongolian folk tale.

Having grown old, the woman discovers that she is now a great-
grandmother and her great-granddaughter worked as a cleaning lady for a
Westerner, evidently Neal Brose from the previous chapter. The old woman
goes up to the top of the mountain, where the Buddhist temples are, to find
freedom for her late father's soul. Her great-granddaughter and niece come
to visit her in her shack, and it is hinted that the great-granddaughter found
Brose's cash stash after he died and took it. While they stay, she peacefully
falls asleep dying in the upper room in her home.

Mongolia

Urban and rural Mongolia is seen through the eyes of a disembodied


spirit, a "noncorpum" which survives by inhabiting living hosts. It has lost
memory of its origin, only recollecting starting inside a soldier's mind at the
foot of the Holy Mountain in China. Its only other memory is a fable about
three animals thinking about the fate of the world. The noncorpum
transmigrates from host to host, using whatever measures necessary to find
the fable's origins.

For years the noncorpum inhabits the mind of the lady of the Tea
Shack, manifesting as the voice of tree. The noncorpum subsequently
transmigrates into Caspar, a Danish backpacker, after overhearing a guest at
the Tea Shack explain the fable's Mongolian origins. Inhabiting Caspar, the
27
noncorpum travels to Mongolia, where Caspar meets an Australian girl,
Sherry; the pair initiate a relationship. The noncorpum transmigrates
between a number of Mongolian natives, searching for a Mongolian writer said
to know the origin of the fable.

When one of its hosts is murdered by a KGB agent, Suhbataar, the


noncorpum gets loose and finds itself trapped in a ger with many other
ghosts. It is eventually reborn as a Mongolian baby. The noncorpum manages
to transmigrate to the baby's grandmother, who reveals its origins. The
noncorpum was once a young boy from a remote Mongolian village. When
Communists were about to execute the boy, a monk tried to save his life by
transporting his soul into a young girl (who later became the grandmother).
The connection, however, was broken and only the memories passed on to the
girl. The rest of the boy's soul ended up in a nearby soldier. Having discovered
its origins, the noncorpum decides to transmigrate back to the baby, who
would have otherwise died, as her mortal soul.

Saint Petersburg

Margarita Latunsky passes her days as a museum attendant in the


Hermitage Museum, secretly planning a heist of a Delacroix painting housed
there. Her abusive boyfriend Rudi is the mastermind of the heist, while
English painter Jerome produces counterfeit paintings to replace those
which they steal. The band works for the Russian crime boss Andrei
Gregorski, who procures buyers and pockets most of the proceeds. Their
latest buyer is Suhbataar, the KGB agent from the previous chapter, now
lodging with Margarita and Rudi.

Margarita reluctantly acts as museum curator's mistress, at the same


time dreaming of moving to Switzerland with Rudi using the proceeds of their
heists. Rudi encourages this fantasy, though it is clear he has no intention of
following through. In Soviet times Margarita claims to have been the lover of
a powerful politician and an admiral. However, Rudi implies that the politician
was a low-ranking official and her "admiral" a mere captain.

28
After the group successfully steals the painting, Latunsky returns to
find her apartment ransacked. She retrieves a concealed pistol and goes to
Jerome's apartment, where she demands he give it to her. When Jerome
refuses, telling her she was merely a pawn in a wider operation, she shoots
him dead. In Jerome's kitchen she discovers Rudi, who has already been
murdered by Jerome. Suhbataar emerges and reveals his real task was to
test Rudi's fidelity. Rudi had been in charge of laundering money for
Gregorski through the Hong Kong account managed by Neal Brose, and
Gregorski believed the sudden loss of the account was a result of Rudi's
dishonesty. Taking the stolen painting with him, Suhbataar leaves an
overwhelmed and disbelieving Margarita to the police.

London

In London, Marco barely scrapes out a living as a ghostwriter and a


drummer in a band called The Music of Chance. He has a difficult
relationship with a woman named Poppy, being unable to completely
commit to her. Marco wakes up one morning in the bed of Katy Forbes. She
sends him away when she receives an antique chair sent to her by her ex-
husband, Neal Brose. On his way out, Marco saves a woman, hurrying to
Gatwick Airport, from being struck by a taxi. When he is interrogated by
three suited men about the woman, Marco lies and tells them she went to
Heathrow. The incident encourages him to consider the interplay between
chance and destiny.

Marco is writing the autobiography of Alfred, an elderly homosexual


artist. On this day, Alfred tells Marco about an incident in 1947 when Alfred
chased a duplicate version of himself through London. Alfred sends Marco
away when he discovers that his friend Jerome has been murdered in Russia.
Later, Marco visits his publisher, Timothy Cavendish, who also sends Marco
away when he discovers that his brother, Denholme Cavendish, has entered
financial strife.

29
In the evening, Marco goes to a casino with his friend Gibreel, Gibreel's
rich cousin and the cousin's friend. The cousin and friend give 300 pounds to
Marco and Gibreel, betting between themselves over who will win more during
the night. Marco decides to use his credit card to extend his betting funds,
and at the end of the night a fight breaks out between the members of the
group. Marco hides in a closet and contemplates the events which led him
there. When he finally emerges, he decides to call Poppy and proposes to
her.

Clear Island

Mo Muntervary, a physicist studying quantum cognition, has


returned to Clear Island, her birthplace in the south of Ireland, to visit her
husband and son. Previously, she resigned from her research facility in
Switzerland upon discovering that her research was being used by the U.S.
military to build intelligent weapons. Her resignation for moral reasons is
rejected by an American general, Mr. Stolz.

Fleeing to London, she narrowly escapes being run over by a taxi and
is saved by Marco, who we know later gives false directions to her pursuers.
She finds temporary shelter in Hong Kong with a friend, Huw Llewelyn,
where she also recounts witnessing the death of Neal Brose. When agents
attempt to ransack her apartment, she flees to Mongolia, where she shares a
train compartment with Sherry, the Australian backpacker. While on the
run, she develops a new theory of quantum cognition, which she writes
down in a little black book.

Having finally returned to Clear Island, the island's inhabitants vow to


protect her from the American forces. When the authorities finally arrive,
she feeds the little black book to her goat Feynman, so the Americans must
rely on her brain alone for the research, and she can set her own terms. She
plans to bring John with her, and use her research to develop instruments of
peace.

30
Night Train

Night Train is a late night call-in radio show in New York City hosted
by a person called Bat Segundo. The chapter is related entirely in dialogue.
Segundo receives regular calls from an entity calling itself "Zookeeper." It
becomes clear that Zookeeper is the benevolent artificial intelligence that was
created by Mo Muntervary, which has broken loose. It now inhabits satellites,
monitoring its "Zoo", being planet Earth. Zookeeper follows certain rules of
behaviour; the first rule being that it must be accountable for its actions,
which is why it calls the show to reveal its undertakings. Zookeeper develops
a popular following, although most believe its calls are the ramblings of a
hacker or aspiring scriptwriter. At one point, Bat puts on jazz music played
by Satoru on saxophone.

Over the course of the calls, Zookeeper reports that it has prevented
nuclear war between the U.S. and an alliance of North African states by
blocking all countries' launching devices. One year later, a call to the show
from Zookeeper is interrupted by a non-corpus named Arupadhatu. It has
been inside Mo Muntervary, and previously His Serendipity. It offers
Zookeeper a pact to dominate the world, but Zookeeper refuses, identifies
the entity and disables it. Before being disconnected, Arupadhatu mentions
that, since Zookeeper controls all the world's computers, no-one would
know that a comet was going to collide with Earth if Zookeeper decided to
conceal that fact.

Zookeeper reveals to Segundo its moral dilemma: despite its efforts,


innocent people all over the world are killed through war, and yet
Zookeeper cannot prevent this because its laws dictate it cannot kill. After a
discussion with Segundo about a group of African militants heading towards
a village they intend to destroy, Bat resolves the dilemma with the
suggestion that, rather than Zookeeper directly instigating a missile strike to
kill the soldiers, it could instead damage a bridge so that it would collapse
under the weight of the soldiers driving over it. Zookeeper is satisfied with
this option, with the implication being that Zookeeper will thus allow
humanity to be wiped out by an impending collision with a comet rather

31
than intervening to destroy it.

32
Underground

The conclusion of the novel brings the focus back to the Tokyo
underground and the terrorist attack perpetrated by Quasar. He almost gets
stuck in the subway carriage after unlocking the timer that will release the
deadly sarin gas. As he struggles to get out, people and objects with strong
references to the other stories appear to him. Strands from all of the other
chapters of the book are introduced via his hallucinations. He is left on a
station platform, pondering what is real.

Quasar

Quasar is a terrorist and is the mind behind a terrorist attack in


London. He is a part of a millenarianist doomsday cult and has a
connection to a being they believe is otherworldly and leads the lives
of those in the cult. He and his cult are waiting for doomsday, which he
foresees through telepathy. He also sees all the stories in the end of
the book, which can mean that he isn’t delusional and really is
speaking to an omnipresent character.

Neal Brose

Neal Brose is married to Katy Forbes, though they don’t live together
because he can’t have children. He works as an expat lawyer and lives
in Hong Kong. He has an affair with a young girl originally from the
Holy Mountain. He dies as he considers what true love is, thus
troubling his workspace. The house he lives in is believed to be
haunted by a ghost, though which ghost it really is, isn’t clear.

Margarita Latunsky

Margarita Latunsky is the girlfriend of Rudi and one of the host


narrators of one of the chapters. Rudi works for a buyer and is going
to steal a famous and important painting with the help of Margarita.
Margarita loves and spends a lot of time with Rudi and envisions a

33
future with him, though he doesn’t love her. Margarita is taken by the
police as someone sabotages their heist.

Ghostwritten has nine different narrators from nine different cities


around the world. They live very different lives, dealing with different problem
that are seemingly unconnected. The nine first chapters are from the nine
different point of views, the last chapter bringing their stories together. The
first chapter is set in Okinawa through the eyes of a cult member who joined
in a nerve gas attack in Tokyo. As the police arrive to arrest the people of the
cult, Quasar, the character of the story, has to ask for help from the
remaining parts of the cult and starts teaching at a school. The second
chapter is in Tokyo, with a boy that raised by his whore mother in a whore-
house. He falls in love with a girl and receives a call from Quasar from the
precious chapter. Next in Hong Kong, a lawyer named Neal Brose with a rocky
relationship with his wife, housemaid and work are explored. When he sees
the girl and the boy from the previous chapter in love, he decides to end his
relationship with his wife. Climbing up a mountain for reflection, the lawyer
dies and loses his belongings, beginning an investigation at his workplace.

Meanwhile in the Holy Mountains, a grandma dies as her


granddaughter, the maid that had an affair with the lawyer from the last
chapter, visits her. In Mongolia, a spirit raids human mind. It searches for its
origin, finding that it came form a boy killed y communists. His soul nearly
moved into a girl, but only his memories succeeded. His soul remains in a
soldier. In the end, the soul stays in the body of a baby.

An emotional lady named Margarita Latunsky is taken by the police


in Saint Petersburg, as she is a part of a paint-heist gone wrong. Though they
managed to steal the painting, her boyfriend dies, and she is caught. In
London, a ghostwriter proposes to his girlfriend after a fight breaks out in a
casino.

The final two chapters are from Clear Island and a night train, in which
a researcher runs from the U.S when discovering that her intelligence was

34
used to build weapons and an artificial intelligence that tries saving the world
as a comet moves towards earth.

The last chapter is back to the first chapter, where Quasar has just
gone through the terrorist attack. He envisions parts of all the chapters the
reader goes through, not understanding what reality is. The ending is left open
for reader interpretation.

QUIZ – 4
20 – Items

Software Engineer – Who is the Mr. Kobayashi?

Grand daughter – What is the relationship between the woman on the holy
mountain and Neal Brose & Maid?

Disembodied spirit – What is noncorpum?

Katty Forbes – Who is the wife of Neal Brose?

Tokyo – It is a city of 20 million people live and work.

Kobayashi – Who is the member of a milillerianist doomsday cult?

2 – What chapter is about Saturo and Tomoyo?

Suhbataar – He is the senior agent of Mongolian KBG, who shot one of the
noncorpum & host.

Great granddaughter – Who stole the cash of Neil BROSE?

Mo Muntervary – Who is the Physicist that is trying to escaped from the US


Military Force?

Music of Chance – Marco is a drummer in a band called ?

Tree – In the story of Holy mountain, the woman believed that the was
talking to her?

Neal Brose – He is an expert lawyer who lives on Lantau Island?

Tomoyo – Who is the lover of Saturo?

35
Andrei Gregorski – This secret account number 1390931 belongs to?

The warlord’s son – Who raped the young girl in the story Holy Mountain?

Goat – Feyman is a pet that Mo fed her notebook containing her


research?

Mr. Fujimoto – He is the regular customer in the shop where Satoru work?

Serendipity – He was the leader of a cult?

Autobiography of a pace bowl – This is actually the first project he published


as a writer.

~End of Midterm~

36
CONPLT

Finals

Ma’am, Josha Reblando

1 THE RED TENT

Anita Diamant

Born June 27, 1951 is an American author of fiction and non-fiction


books.

She has published five novels, the most recent of which is The Boston
Girl, a New York Times best seller.

She is best known for her 1997 novel The Red Tent, which eventually
became a best seller and book club favorite.

She has also written six guides to contemporary Jewish practice,


including The New Jewish Wedding, living a Jewish Life, and The New
Jewish Baby Book, as well as a collection of personal essays, Pitching
My Tent.

The Characters

Dinah

The only surviving daughter of Jacob, and the protagonist of the novel.
As the only daughter among twelve sons born to four mothers, Dinah
grows up pampered and adored by her mothers. She spends her
childhood in the women’s tents, learning their private stories and
rituals. Dinah is a thoughtful and intelligent girl, fascinated by the
workings of her polygamous family. She vigilantly observes the
relationships between each of her mothers and her father, as well as
between the women themselves. She is largely uninterested in the
ways
37
of men in the fields and prefers the day-to-day activities of women in
the family’s camp. She also prefers the women’s stories and songs to
those of the men. She embraces the skill of midwifery, which she
learns from her aunt Rachel, and uses it to continue to forge
relationships with women throughout her life.

Jacob

Son of Isaac and Rebecca. Though Jacob is the younger of two twins
(his brother is Esau), he and his mother trick Isaac into giving him the
blessing that is Esau’s birthright. Jacob is a tall, charismatic, good-
looking man. Because of his charm and kindness, all the sisters fall in
love with him, except for Zilpah. He is a skilled herdsman and, under
his care, Laban’s flock grows and brings wealth to his family. He
spreads the practice of circumcision, one of the tenets of Judaism, from
Haran to Canaan to Shechem, converting followers to his father’s
religion. His obsession with growing his flock and his family’s power
indirectly leads to the slaughter of men at Shechem and the death of
Dinah’s husband.

Leah

Eldest of the four daughters of Laban, and the first wife of Jacob. Leah
is a strong, capable woman, extremely skilled in brewing and baking,
as well as with the herds. She is the head of the women of her family,
minding the children and the family’s camp at the same time. She is
often consulted by Jacob in regard to family affairs and is ultimately
the one who saves Ruti, Laban’s ill-treated wife, from being sold as a
slave. Leah is the most fertile of the sisters, bearing seven sons and the
only daughter, Dinah. While Leah’s mismatched eyes—one blue and
one green—are off-putting to some, Dinah finds them beautiful.

Rachel

The most beautiful of Laban’s daughters, and the second wife of Jacob.
Rachel is the second youngest of the four sisters and the most
beautiful woman in the region. Early in the novel, Rachel is petty and

38
petulant,

39
sniping at her sisters and keeping mostly to herself. As Leah steadily
bears healthy sons and Rachel suffers miscarriage after miscarriage,
her jealousy pushes them even further apart. She begins to apprentice
as a midwife with Inna, proving that she too can bring life into the world.
She finally gives birth to Joseph. Rachel’s tent is often a retreat for
Dinah as she grows up, and Rachel eventually teaches her the skill of
midwifery. Rachel dies giving birth to her second son, Benjamin.

Shalem

Dinah’s first love and first husband, the prince of Shechem. Shalem’s
beauty and kindness instantly endear him to Dinah, and they quickly
consummate their love. His passion for Dinah leads him to agree to
Jacob’s absurd bride-price, as well as the agreement to have himself
and every man in Shechem circumcised.

Shalem

Dinah’s first love and first husband, the prince of Shechem. Shalem’s
beauty and kindness instantly endear him to Dinah, and they quickly
consummate their love. His passion for Dinah leads him to agree to
Jacob’s absurd bride-price, as well as the agreement to have himself
and every man in Shechem circumcised.

Laban

Cruel and selfish father of Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, Bilhah, Kemuel, and
Beor. Laban is a worthless cheat who mistreats his wife and daughters
and tries to bamboozle Jacob of his due as overseer of his lands. He
eventually backs down in fear of Jacob’s god.

Simon and Levi

Sons of Jacob by Leah. The cruelest of all of Jacob’s children, Simon


and Levi become his closest counselors in Canaan and Succoth.
Concerned that their own legacies and power might diminish, they
reject Dinah’s marriage to Shalem and slaughter all of the men of
Shechem in their sleep.

40
Quiz 1 20 – Items

False – DINAH is largely interested in the ways of men in the fields and prefers
the day-to-day activities of women in the family’s camp.

False – ANITA DIAMANT has published six novels, the most recent of which
is The Boston Girl, a New York Times best seller.

Leah – Eldest of the four daughters of Laban

Dinah – The only surviving daughter of Jacob, and the protagonist of the
novel.

False – Laban is a loving father and husband.

Laban – Cruel and selfish father of Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, Bilhah, Kemuel and
Beor.

ESSAU – Twin brother of Jacob.

True – ANITA DIAMANT is the best known for her 1997 novel The Red Tent,
which eventually became a best seller and book club favorite.

True – DINAH as the only daughter among the twelve sons born to four
mothers, Dinah grows up pampered and adored by her mothers.

Anita Diamant – Is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books. One


of her writings is about DINAH daughter of Jacob.

Simon and Levi – Sons of Jacob by Leah. The cruelest of all of Jacob’s
children.

True – ANITA DIAMANT has also written six guides to contemporary Jewish
practice, including The New Jewish Wedding, living a Jewish Life and The New
Jewish Baby Book, as well as a collection of personal essays, Pitching My
Tent.

Benjamin – Who is the reason why Rachel died?

June 27, 1951 – ANITA DIAMANT born when?

ZILPAH – The only daughter of Laban, who doesn’t fall in love with Jacob?

41
Shalem – Husband of Dinah, who died?

Jacob – Son of Isaac and Rebecca.

False – DINAH embraces the skill of midwifery, which she learns from her
aunt Leah.

True – DINAH also prefers the women’s stories and songs to those of the men.

Joseph – First born son of Rachel and Jacob.

“HOT RAINS”

Author:

Terese Svoboda is an American poet, novelist, memoirist, short story


writer, librettist, translator, biographer, critic and video maker.

Terese Svoboda is the author of the short story collection Great


American Desert (Mad Creek Books, 2019) and the biography Anything that
Burns You: A Portrait of Lola Ridge, Radical Poet (Schaffner Books, 2018).
Svoboda's poetry collections include When the Next Big War Blows Down the
Valley: Selected & New (Anhinga Press, 2015) and Professor Harriman's Steam
Air-Ship (Eyewear, 2016).

Unlocking difficulties:

Raging – Showing violent uncontrollable anger.

Recants – Say that one no longer holds an opinion or belief, especially


one considered heretical.

Skulking – To move in a stealthy or furtive manner.

Cahoots – In an alliance or partnership.

Robins – Bats or birds that fly in the evening.

La-Z-Boy – Dad sleeping at American furniture.

42
Metaphorical – Something used symbolically to represent something
else, suggesting a comparison or resemblance.

Cahoots – Is used almost exclusively in the phrase "in cahoots, which


means in an alliance or partnership.

Quip – Is a real-time collaborative documents, spreadsheet, and chat


embedded inside sales force to transform any business process.

Bemoan – To express deep grief or distress over.

Grizzled – Having or streaked with gray hair.

Chicanery – The use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal


purpose.

Characters:

Clever Sister or Narrator

The one who sacrifices everything after all the pain and sufferings from
her family

Dad

Looking for care from his children, he can't find it, so he uses his
money to buy or find love with a witch and attempts to propose a
wedding to the witch.
Head of the family, rich, powerful and pretend to be sick so that the
witch won't leave him.
Patriarch father that treated himself as a king and someone who
wants everyone should follow him.

Witch (caregiver)

Dad’s caregiver and wants to take over the house or the mansion

43
Young Daughter

Transition again young daughter who will take care again because
Clever daughter (Narrator) is leaving and before she leaves they first
look for valuable things and they open the closet.

Patterson cowboy

Suspected live- in partner of Witch

Caregiver

The one who receive ninety thousand and reject the wedding proposal.

Sister-in-law

The one who gave medicine to her father in law, make him almost lost
his life.

Brother

Greedy for wealth and wanting to take possession of their entire father’s
prosperity.

Analysis:

‘Hot Rain’ is a story about love, money and power in the hands of aging
parents. A power he holds as being the head of the family makes them
encounter various mishaps. The father was diagnosed with stage four kidney
failures.

The story evolves when the seven siblings is worried on their father’s
health condition and their theory of him being bewitched by his caregiver. In
the story, the seven siblings experiences rivalry because of the money of their
father. His daughter believed that one of their brothers is in tandem with the
‘witch’, the caregiver whom their father given his house to. After their father’s
90th birthday, he said that he is going to sue everybody if they don’t let him
sell their shares. “Okay, if we can’t have love, we want the money”, they
thought that maybe their father will give them his money because that who

44
he is but apparently their father bewitched by his caregiver. In this line we
can sense that their dad was never been a good father. He’s the type of parents
who will give everything to his kids, clothes them with fine and expensive
clothing, feed them and gives the freedom they deserve but he will not come
to his children’s special occasions. He wasn’t someone who will come to the
prom and took pictures, or even to graduation. That makes his sons and
daughters want him money since love is far from what they’ve imagine.

The story tells the reality in a family, the father portrays the kind of
parents who only think of works, money, and personal luxury without giving
guidance to his children’s. The siblings portray the reality of the kins rivalry.
The thought of this is there are certain problems that root since we were
younger and never pulled out. It is grown taller and taller until it reaches its
peak. But the pivotal part is the way children care and love his parents. The
way the siblings worry and care to their father is out of the world. Love, money,
power they should be balanced. The only one that should dominate is family.
Love will stay in the heart, money in the hands and power is in mind. Family
is eternal.

Literary Devices:

Symbolism

“Even I know that dementia is a peek -a- boo, that symptoms can be
suppressed.”

Hyperbole

“Raged enough to wrestle away the power of attorney and the million-
dollar farm”

Simile

Incest is like asking for a kidney.


“I've always thought of "will " as a promising verb”
“You sound like a damn shrink”

45
Metaphor

A lot of robins out tonight.


“It’s hard to shake hands with a guy in a straight jacket”.

Oxymoron

He's fresh while I'm worn out.

Lessons:

While we have the opportunity to love our parents, we are nothing


without them because they are the tool that allows us to exist in this world.
Even if our father has been unkind to us, we will never forget our parents
and will never lose respect for them. We must never forget that a parent's
love for their child is incomparable.

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is
right. ²Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with
promise; ³That it may be well with thee, and thou mays live long on the
earth.

“WHERE THE MONEY WENT”

Author:

Kevin Canty - Is the award-winning author of the novels into the Great
Wide Open, Nine Below Zero, and Winslow in Love, as well as the short story
collections Honeymoon and Other Stories, A Stranger in This World, and
Where the Money Went. His most recent book is The Underworld: A Novel,
published in 2017. His work has been published in The New Yorker, Esquire,
GQ, Details, Story, The New York Times Magazine, Tin House, and Glimmer
Train. He currently teaches fiction writing at the University of Montana.

Unlocking Difficulties:

46
Enormous – Very large in size, quantity, or extent.

47
Torpedoing – Any of various submarine explosive devices for destroying
hostile ships, as a mine.
Vile – Extremely unpleasant.
Decorously – In keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and
restrained.
Stripper – A device used for stripping something.
Opaque – Not able to be seen through; not transparent.
Blizzard – A severe snowstorm with high winds and low visibility.
Topple – Overbalance or become unsteady and fall slowly.
Binocular – A telescope.
Fuss – A display of unnecessary or excessive excitement, activity, or
interest.
Flicker – An unsteady movement of a flame or light that causes rapid
variations in brightness.
Slurve – A baseball pitches having the characteristics of both a slider
and a curve.

Characters:

Braxton

Rich man who likes to spend his money on his hobbies.

Lucinda

Braxton’s daughter.

Lander

Works as front desk of the University library.

Tim

Lander’s younger brother.

Soliel

Lander’s beloved.

48
Richard

Firefighter.

Eddie

Nancy’s son from her ex-husband.

Nancy

Swing-shift or nurse.

Eleanor

The narrator’s lover in “They were expendables”.

Analysis:

Kevin Canty normally writes with tender toughness that moves his
characters with sad inevitability through their lives. The stories were about
love and relationships, infidelities, breakups, and tentative movements
toward reconciliation. The author paid special attention to the nuances of
longing, bitterness and regret.

Literary Devices:

Personification

“Dust blew in through the windows”, “the wind howled in the night”.

Metaphor

“Delicious blinding cold”, “late bloomer”, “There is a weight on my


shoulder”.

Hyperbole

“Enormous boat”, “dripping wet”.

Repetition

“What’s what”, “who’s who”.


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Point of view

“First and third person point of view”.

Simile

“They fought like dogs”, “he explains as clear as crystal”.

Lessons:

Desire
Love
Discipline

“THE DOGS TALE”

Author:

Mark Twain was an American humorist, novelist, and travel writer.


Today he is best remembered as the author of The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Twain is widely
considered one of the greatest American writers of all time.

Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Clemens. Although the exact
origins of the name are unknown, it is worth noting that Clemens operated
riverboats, and MARK TWAIN is a nautical term for water found to be two
fathoms (12 feet. deep: mark (measure) twain (two).

Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. In


1839 his family moved to the Mississippi port town of Hannibal in search of
greater economic opportunities. In Old Times on the Mississippi (1875), he
recalled his childhood in Hannibal with fondness.

Mark Twain died on April 21, 1910. The last piece of writing he did,
evidently, was the short humorous sketch “Etiquette for the Afterlife: Advice
to Paine.” The sketch was published posthumously in 1995.

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Unlocking Difficulties:

Dogmatic – Inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.


Pocket-pup – To swindle someone, especially by selling something of
little worth on its supposed prospective value.
Mastiff – A dog of a large, strong breed with drooping ears and
pendulous lips.
Despondency – A state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage.
Synonymous – Having the same or nearly the same meaning as another
word or phrase in the same language.
Dump-pile – A garbage heap of unwanted debris.
Supererogation – The performance of more work than duty requires.
Placidly – Means in a way that is placid —calm, peaceful, or quiet.
Matinees – A performance in a theater or a showing of a movie that
takes place in the daytime.
Frivolous – Not having any serious purpose or value.
Spaniel – Used in similes and metaphors as a symbol of devotion or
obsequiousness.
Garret – A top-floor or attic room, especially a small dismal one
(traditionally inhabited by an artist).

Characters Lists:

Aileen Mavourneen

Presbyterian Dog; The Narrator.

Mother

Collie Dog; Mother of the Narrator; She had a kind heart and gentle
ways.

Father

St. Bernard Dog; Father of the Narrator.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray

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Couple who adopted Aileen Mavourneen.

Sadie and the Baby

Children of Mr. and Mrs. Gray.

Robin Adair

Presbyterian Dog; handsome and courteous and graceful one, a curly-


haired Irish.

Analysis:

Aileen Mavoureen is a Presbyterian. As the story opens, she


reminisces about her mother, an ‘educated’ Collie; she likes big words and
shows off her prowess to the rest of them, leaving them surprised and
envious. Although Aileen did think of her mother as a rather vain character,
she believed her virtues more than made up for that flaw. There was more to
Collie than just her education. Aileen grows up fully and is eventually sold to
another family. Broken hearted at their impending separation, they cry.
Aileen’s mother comforts her the best way she could leaving her with the
wisdom to perform her duties as a dog with the utmost dedication. To think
not of oneself but others in the times of danger. Aileen finds her new home
charming. Her Grays are a loving family. She feels like a part of the family
and enjoys the affections people send her way.

Mr Gray is a scientist, Mrs Gray a homemaker, Sadie, their elder kid, a 10-
year old girl and a one-year old baby. Aileen’s days are mostly spent being
petted by the family, watching the baby in nursery, playing with Sadie on the
grass and in occasional visits to the neighboring dogs. Aileen is positively
pleased with her life and has nothing more to ask for. Her happiness
multiplies manifold when she welcomes her pup into the world. Aileen finds
her world too perfect until one day where an incident happens during her
nursery watch. The baby and Aileen were both sleeping when the baby’s crib
caught fire. Awakened by the baby’s cries, the dog darts, and is half way on
her way out when the parting words from her mother strike her.

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Literary Devices:

Simile

“She would say, as calm as a summer's day”.

Metaphor

“Yes, she was a daisy”.

Irony

“There could not be happier dog that I was grateful”.

Personification

"King Charles Spaniel”.

Oxymoron

“It pretty hard all the week”.

Lessons:

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not
bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. The dog is
a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not men. – Mark Twain”

“We were sent into this world for a wise and good purpose, and must
do our duties without repining, take our life as we might find it, live it for the
best good of others, and never mind about the results.”

“When in danger, don’t think about yourself.”

“THE LIFE OF MISSISSIPPI”

Unlocking of Difficulties:

Mark Twain – Nautical and pilot's phrase that means "two fanthoms".
Two fanthoms – When the water level is just deep enough for river
navigation.

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Steamboats – A boat that is propelled by a steam engine, especially a
paddle-wheel craft of a type used widely on rivers in the 19th century.
Cub – A trainee pilot of a steamboat.
Apprenticeship – An arrangement in which someone learns an art,
trade, or job under another.
Civil War – A war between citizens of the same country.

Characters:

Mark Twain himself

Narrates his experiences started when he was dreaming to become a


steamboat pilot, when he started the apprenticeship under Mr. Bixby,
when he had to leave steamboat piloting because of civil war, and
finally when he returned to Mississippi River

Horace Bixby

The steamboat pilot whom Twain served as an apprentice under.


Horace Bixby is portrayed as a gruff and stern man who does not
hesitate to resort to harsh methods in training Twain.

Analysis:

The purpose of Twain's re-enactment is to observe the changes that


industrialization has created in and around river traffic, and the desire to
monitor the post-war impact. The book, Life on the Mississippi, in which the
change and progress in nature and culture is explained in the nature of
Mississippi, is considered to be one of the important works of American
literature.

Mark Twain's memoir Life on the Mississippi recounts the author's


personal experiences as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Though
generally classified as an autobiography, the book does include several
fictional stories in the later chapters.

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Mark Twain describes the art of piloting steamboats in detail. He drew
his pseudonym from the term meaning a river depth of two fathoms, which
was required for a steamboat's safe passage.

Life on the Mississippi includes many humorous sketches of characters


Twain met during his time as a steamboat pilot. Twain relies on dialogue and
comedic timing to introduce the interesting people he met.

Literary Devices:

Hyperbole and Irony

In typical Mark Twain style, he uses irony and hyperbole extensively


throughout Life on the Mississippi. From the beginning to the end of
the book, Twain demonstrates a keen awareness of humans and their
nature. He is keenly aware of his own shortcomings and the failures of
other. He demonstrates this when describing the discovery of the
Mississippi River and the explorer La Salle's interactions with the
natives: "Then, to the admiration of the Savages, La Salle set up a cross
with the arms of France on it, and took possession of the whole
country for the king--the cool fashion of the time--while the priest
piously consecrated the robbery with a hymn." Twain is aware that
America wasn't "discovered," but rather stolen by the Europeans
who masqueraded the theft with patriotism and Christianity. Twain
lets his audience know that he is not fond of such dealings.

Twain also uses irony and hyperbole to highlight his own


shortcomings. When returning to Hannibal, Missouri, his hometown, he
interviews a local man who moved to Hannibal after he left about the
inhabitants he knew in his youth. At the end of the interview, Twain asks
the man about himself. The man replied, "Oh, he succeeded well enough--
another case of a damned fool. If they'd sent him to St. Louis, he'd have
succeeded sooner". The man, of course, did not realize he was talking to the
man he was describing: Twain.
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Twain's retelling of this indicates that Twain himself thinks he could have
been successful sooner if he had the right motivation to do so, and that like
all human beings, in many ways he was a fool.

Twain narrates how he took on his pen name Mark Twain. He tells
the story of the highly respected Captain Sellers who was a river pilot veteran
who hated Twain and wrote to the paper under the pen name Mark Twain.
Twain claims he was one of the only people Sellers ever detested and that he
found it an honor that such a great man took the time to think of him, even
if the thoughts were negative. To honor the man who hated him, Twain took
on the pen name used by Sellers when he died and wrote under the name
Mark Twain for the rest of his life.

Anecdotes

Much of Life on the Mississippi is told in the form of anecdotal short


stories. Twain tells anecdotes about learning to pilot steamboats, the
people aboard these boats, conflicts he had, people he met throughout
his time on the river, and other short stories. While the anecdotes
work together to tell his larger life long experience upon the Mississippi
River, the chapters could easily be read in isolation as short stories.

Lesson:

"Change is the only constant in the world", it is up to us if we are going


to walk against it or walk behind it.

QUIZ – 2 & 3 40 – Items

Dr. Georgia Young – She an optometrist who lives in Oakland, California.

I almost forget about you – This novel shows what can happen when you
face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the
possibility of a new direction.

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Terry McMillan – American novelist and short story writer whose work often
portrays feisty, independent Black women and their attempts to find
fulfilling relationships with Black men.

Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or


someone – What is the meaning of Ambivalent.

Terry McMillan – Who is the author of I almost forget about you?

Michael Mayfield – He was Georgia’s first ex-husband and He’s Estelle’s


father.

FALSE – Niles Boro is Georgia’s third ex-husband.

Wanda – She’s best friend of Georgia

I almost forgot about you – This novel is all about when 54-year-old doctor
Georgia Young learns that her college crush Raymond Strawberry has died
unexpectedly, she decides to hunt up all the men she's loved in her life and
tell them what they meant to her.

I almost forgot about you – In what novel had moral “Never be afraid to face
your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the possibility
of a new direction”.

Amen – Who is the realtor

Percy – Who is the professional stager

True – Stanley DiStasio, a long-lost fling, becomes romantically involved with


Georgia after attending her 55th birthday party.

Analyst – Stella is working as .

Quincy – Stella’s son names .

How Stella got her Groove back (1996) – This is Terry’s novel, an
autobiographical in nature which tells a story of Stella who is living with her
loving son.

Because he wanted to change Stella into something she was not. – Why
did Stella and his husband separated or divorced?

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Walter – Stella and , her husband had been parted three years ago.

William – The following are characters from Terry’s “How Stella got her Groove
back” except?

Jamaica – Where did Stella go to take her vacation?

Winston – Who is the twenty years old guy that Stella meets in Jamaica?

Jonathan Plummer – The novel “How Stella got her Groove back” is based
on Terry McMillan’s own romance with .

True – “How Stella got her Groove back” evokes how Stella became
independent from a failed marriage.

All of these – The following are the moral of the novel “How Stella got her
Groove back” except?

Stella – Who is the protagonist of the novel who fell in love with Winston?

Angela – She is Stella’s pregnant sister?

First – person – “How Stella got her Groove back” was in narrative of
the main character Stella Payne.

Mary Miller – Who is the Author of the novel Always Happy Hour?

16 – How many stories does the novel Always Happy Hour have?

Always Happy Hour – This novel is a collection of sixteen stories, focusing


on young women living in an uneasy limbo of loveless relationships while
yearning for order and normality.

Uphill – In what story, where the woman lives in a RV with a man who is
hired by a drug dealer to take a picture of a woman to identify her as a
murderer.

The last day of California – What novel of Mary Miller where the story of a
fourteen-year old girl on a family road trip from the South California, led by
her evangelical father.

Diamond – Who is the seven-year-old child in the story of Big Bad Love where
a married woman attached to?
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Dirty – In what story where a woman whose boyfriend makes videos of having
sex?

Love apples – In what story where an unhappily married woman meets a man
in an internet chat room who sends her explicit photos and asks for her to
send him a used article of her clothing.

Short Fiction – What type of work does the novel Always happy hour was?

Women – Whose side does the novel Always happy hour pertaining to?

The house on Main street – In what story where a graduate teaching


assistant lives with her female roommate in southern Louisiana?

None of these – The following are the stories in Always Happy Hour, except?

August 27, 1959 – When did Mary Miller was born?

POSSIBLE FINAL EXAM QUESTION IN CONPLT


40 – Items

Writer – What do you think is the occupation of the narrator?

Father – Who do you think will undergo the diagnosis?

The brother’s wife – Who kneels in front of their dad and takes him away?

Doctor – Who said that her brother has to leave his own home and live
together with them?

Clever Daughter – Who is opposed to Dad's desire to propose to a caregiver


(Witch)?

Patterson Cowboy – Who is suspected to live with the caregiver?

Valuable paintings of the mother – What are the young daughter and the
clever daughter looking for in their house?

Dad – He fires the witch the day before his flight back.

Brother – He refuses to hire a second person for her days off and nobody
should interfere with the caregiver to his Dad.

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Faux barn – Dad and her siblings are lined up inside this , waiting
their order.

Disease of the heart – run in the family (isn't that Dad's real problem)

4 – In what stage of kidney failure does the father have?

Witch – She is described as a thick-hipped, god-awful ugly-mouthed, -faced,


and handed.

Lander – Who has affection for Soliel?

Braxton – Who sat down at the kitchen table of his apartment and tried to
figure out what they had done with the money?

Lander – Who spent working at the front desk of the University library?

Tim – Who is the younger brother of Lander?

Tim – Lander allowed himself to be jealous of the attention that Soleil pays to
?

Double Blizzard – It is a couple of pounds of stuff.

Ridge – The fire came up over that over there and started to burn
down toward us.

To his late wife – To whom did the narrator confessed his feelings in the story
“They were expendables”?

Because of the stray dog – Why did Nancy get a butterfly bandage bottle of
peroxide, a roll of gauze and a roll of type?

Sex video – What did the narrator bought from the adult shop downtown in
“They were expendables”?

John Wayne – In the end, they were not expendable. In the end,
escapes.

Lawyers – The rest of the money of Braxton went for ?

Two fanthoms – According to the author, "Mark Twain" is a nautical term


and pilot's phrase that means

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Hernando De Soto – He was the first to saw Mississippi river.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens – Mark Twain's real name is

Amazon River – It was Twain's dream destination when he was a child

Reporter – When Civil War hits, Twain stop being steamboat pilot and become

I, II and III – Twain is finally back in Mississippi and he notice big changes
in the river for him it is bittersweet because

I. Railroads become the main transportation mode of Mississippi.

II. He thought that his dream profession will be somehow buried like
dinosaurs.

III. But he also notes that changes must come and Mississippi must
progress.

Unintellectual – What is the first word that Aileen learnt from her mother?

All of these – Where did the Collie mother get her new words?

No - Is the narrator a St. Bernard?

Robin Adair – Who is the very handsome and courteous and graceful one, a
curly-haired Irish Presbyterian?

Laboratory – It is filled with jars, and bottles, and electrics, and wires, and
strange machines; and every week other scientists came there and sat in the
place?

The daughter – Who is Aileen Mavourneen in the story?

Nursery Room – Where did the fire started?

Mr. Gray – Who falsely accused Aileen of starting a fire and beat her?

Mark Twain – Who is the narrator of the story The Dogs Tale?

~End of Finals~

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