Egyptian food
1. What evidence in this chapter is there that this is a happy family?
OR
2. Is there any evidence of unhappiness in this chapter?
OR
3. What do you think is the source or main reason for the happiness there (if any)?
OR
4. What do you think is the source or main reason for the unhappiness there (if any)?
OR
5. We learn that Kamal makes up stories. How does this fit in with what else we know about him?
15 comments:
Sang Eun
1. What evidence in this chapter is there that this is a happy family?
"Except for the father, the family gathered shortly before sunset for what they called the coffee hour."
"This hour was well loved by them. It was a time to enjoy being together as a family and to have a pleasant chat."
The family has their own time to gather together in their house and spend time having conversation among them. They share their own stories or discuss about specific topics with each other. The mother prepares coffee for those who can drink it. Even if her children have some kind of quarrels between their conversation, she is not displeased about it but enjoys listening to them. It is hard to see a family who tries to spend time with its members around us, but this family carries the family meeting or so-called coffee hour regularly. Only thing that lacks is the fact the meeting is carried through without their father.
2. Is there any evidence of unhappiness in this chapter?
Yes, there is indeed evidence of unhappiness throughout the whole chapter. The person in which the cheerlessness revolves around is Kamal. Kamal is a boy of much imagination. Through this chapter it shows his jealousy, hope, and wanting to “fit in.” Kamal always hoped he would have the advantage of reading like his brother Yasin. Kamal would be engaged and ask many questions of his brother. Yasin would respond with a cruel response such as,”Don’t give me a hard time with your questions. Don’t push your luck. If I don’t tell you today, then tomorrow.”
Kamal would also feel abandoned and lost in his family conversations. When he would try to input...he would create an absurd story in which no one believed. He was fully criticized by all his family members except his mother. His mother would believe him and attempt to defend his “truthfulness.” Kamal’s brothers and sisters would all try to confirm that his story was fake.
2. Is there any evidence of unhappiness in this chapter?
Yes, there is. There is unhappiness shown from Kamal, at being ignored by the older members of the family, and from Khadija, for being unattractive with a big nose.
On page 53, Kamal's unhappiness is stated with: "In that coffee hour Kamal frequently felt lost and neglected by his family. Hardly anyone paid attention to him." Kamal is feeling alone, although he is surrounded by his family, who should love him. They do, of course, but they want to talk about grown up things that Kamal does not always understand or find interesting. So, he reverts to lies and tall tales to get their attention, such as the one between pages 53 and 54, where the boy jumps onto the bus. The conductor kicks him off and kicks him so hard in the stomach that he dies. Kamal's mouth gets ahead of him again to keep his family's interest, although they don't believe him in the first place, and before he knows it the boy's head is cracked open and pouring blood all over the place. Kamal has to lie to feel like his family knows that he exists during their time together.
On page 54, Kamal insults Khadija to get out of trouble himself. When she asks him what he'll do if God calls him out on his lies when he gets to Heaven, he says, "I'll tell him it's the fault of my sister's snout." Although they share the same nose, which they inherited from their father, it doesn't stop Kamal from insulting his sister for it. He says that he pities the man who has to marry her! The fact that she is not attractive makes Khadiha bitter secretly, no matter how many witty come-backs she can pop out her mouth. Who wants to sit through a coffee hour where you are sneered at repeatedly for a facial feature you did not choose and that you share with the insulter, although he refuses to acknowledge it?!
Heather Rhee
Q2.
Answer
Some other people alreay left a comment about this question and I agree with them. I'm tring to come up with another part of the story which gaved me an unhappy feeling about the family.
Like Sang-eun said for the answer of question 1, the family seems happy when they gather together and have a time to have a conversations with others before sunset. However, the first sentence of the chapter 9 said:
"Except for the father, the family gathered shortly before sunset for what they called the coffee hour"
Father is a important member of a family. This sentence shows that the father is not having a enjoyable time with his family and it didn't made me to feel happy at all. Eventhough the other family enjoys the time, they are still feeling happiness coming from the time when one of their family is missing. Also, I guess some of the family will want to spend some time with the father. Thus, the family didn't seemed like they are a harmonious family. They just gaved me an unhappy feelings.
3. What do you think is the source or main reason for the happiness there (if any)?
I can see that they are happy at least during the coffee hour because it was the time when they all gathered in a place and chatted. Also because Amad (father) was not there when they were talking, they didn't have someone whom they had to be scared of. If Ahmad was there then they probably have not talked because he was strict and cold to others. I think the main reason why the family (without father) seemed happy was because they connected to each other and because there wasn't a person who they had to be scared of.
Yeena Sung
2. Is there any evidence of unhappiness in this chapter?
“Except for the father, the family gathered shortly before sunset for what they called the coffee hour.”
“In that coffee hour Kamal frequently felt lost and neglected by his family. Hardly anyone paid attention to him.
It might look as if the family has a enjoyable time with each other on the outside. However, it is very sad to notice that the family members open up when the father is not in the house. I wouldn’t say that it shows the happiness of the whole family, for the person who leads the family, doesn’t get to have fun with other members of the family. Also, in the book, it doesn’t mention anything about missing the dad and them thinking that it would be more enjoyable if the father were with them. This shows that they do not have a tight bond as a family. In addition, not only the father, but Kamal is also not involved in the family’s bond. He is left out of the family and whenever he tries to get people’s attention, and so desperate that he lies about the stories, nobody listens to him and makes fun of him. These things show that the happiness that happens between the family members are only considered for some of the people.
Ka Yeon Nam
Question 1
What evidence in this chapter is there that this is a happy family?
"This hour was well loved by them. It was a time to enjoy being together as a family and to have a pleasant chat."
The family have their coffee hour right after the sunset. This hour is loved by the family. They talk to each other and enjoys the time they have togther before their father comes back from work. The family share their story or something they want to say with their family and family listens to them. Even though, some can be not heard very well, they still have a wonderful time together.
1. What evidence in this chapter is there that this is a happy family?
"This hour was well loved by them. It was a time to enjoy being together as a family and to have a pleasant chat."
"The very way they sat leaning back with their legs folded under them showed how free and relaxed they felt."
I agree with everyone who has also done this question. The family does show that they have some happy times together. The most pleasant time of the day would be their coffee hour when they just sit down while the older children drink coffee. It's a time for them to sit and relax and enjoy good conversations with another. They share stories about their day and have a good time. Sometimes quarrels break out among the children, but this time is still special to family
2. Is there any evidence of unhappiness in this chapter?
Mostly, it is a happy family, but when it comes down to the point where we have to see Kamal always being rejected by his own family, that shows how unhappy this chapter is. When the family would gather around and have a chat with a coffee, everyone talks to each other and tells stories, but when Kamal would try to talk, everyone would just ignore him and Kamal felt like he does not exist. That is not what a part of family should feel like.
Sometimes he would make up a story just to get an attention, but it actually makes everything worse, because his brothers and his sister would make fun of him.
Savannah Rounds,
question #5,
We learn that Kamal makes up stories. How does this fit in with what else we know about him?
Kamal seems to be the odd ball of the family. His father is greatly respected, his mother is kind ad the perfect wife, his sister Khadija may have his nose but people don't mess with her on account of her quick wit and sharp tongue. His other sister Aisha may have his imagination but she is beautiful and his brothers are both handsom and already very manly. This leaves Kamal. Kamal is a very smart boy and a good student but he has an imagination and a craving for entertainment that are not very useful when it comes to pleasing his family. He also is not nearly as handsom as his brothers with his small eyes, large nose and protruding brow.
When Kamal tells his story he is merely trying to put his imagination to good use and fit in with the rest of his family which obviousely just gets him teased by his siblings but non the less he continues doing so even for the negative atention.
Answer to #1:
"The very way they sat leaning back with their legs folded under them showed how free and relaxed they were"
This family is a happy family. Although it is true that they have their faults, it is apparent that they are content. They joke with each other, tell stories and even throw casual insults. This, to me, is an indication that the family is also very relaxed. They understand each other and show it. Even when Kamal makes up his stories, they discard it somewhat carefully. In these instances, it is obvious that Kamal just wants attention.
Sung Kun Kim
Q. 5
5. We learn that Kamal makes up stories. How does this fit in with what else we know about him?
- In this chapter, Kamal can't join the conversation because he doesn't understand what his elder siblings are saying. Because of this, he feels left out and sad. So as a child he makes up a imaginary story of a boy who got killed by a conductor just to get attention from his family. At the last chapter, Kamal shows features of what a 10-year-old boy should have such as looking interested at a woman's poster or enjoying rough actions. So the behavior of trying to catch attention also shows that he is just a kid as we saw him before.
4. What do you think is the source or main reason for the unhappiness there (if any)?
The family during what they call coffee hour is when they're all there except for the father, Ahmad. They seem to really enjoy and love this family time. Even if Kamal does annoy Yasin like crazy they love the hour. It's a time when all the children and the mother gather to have some quality time and enjoy each other's presence and none of them seem to do that when Ahmad is around. However when he is not there's a lot of happiness and not a lot of tension between the family members. So basically I believe that Ahmad is the soul reason there's any unhappiness unless the children fight but surely they make up and there's happiness again.
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