English hw

Year 12 Holiday Homework for Comparative Texts.

Learning Activities

1. Re-read The Namesake and “Joyful Strains”.

1. Investigate the life of Jhumpa Lahiri. What do you find in her biography, that suggests that her experiences are similar to both the characters in The Namesake and some of the characters in “Joyful Strains”?

The parents of both Lahiri and Gogol are well-educated and professional Indians who take jobs in the United States. They have financial security for their families and are able to access the typical American-dream lifestyle: a house in the suburbs, a car and a college education for their children. In this way The Namesake tells a different story about migration than does “Joyful Strains”, where many of the writers come from families who do not have the security that the Gangulis have (for example, Vu and Alizadeh).

1. What are some of the cultural elements that come through in the texts? (Look at such things as views and values, traditions and beliefs, food, festivities, music, etc.) Fill in the table below.

1. Use your knowledge of the novel and the stories, to fill in the grid below for Gogol’s coming-of-age story.