choose two stories that reveal the thinking of an older generation of singaporeans. What new insights have you gained from such a revelation?

Mid Autumn


The mother is very old-fashioned and traditional because she still believes very much in the Mid Autumn festival while her daughter is more mordenized and does not believe in it as much as her parents.The mother also has an outdated thinking because she thinks that her daughter should lead a more normal life as a normal Singaporean.Her daughter, on the other hand thinks that she should lead her life as the way she wants to lead it.For example,the daughter wants to go to Uganda to help out despite her mother's wish for her to go to university and get a job.

Tanjong Rhu

The mother likes to think alot about her past and cherish them while the son is more morden thinking and looks more to the present and the future.The mother also like to think about her husband(which is the son's father).Her son,on the other hand,tries to forget his father who is gone.Addtionally,when the mother looks at the mordenized Tanjong Rhu she sees the old-fashioned port which she recognized sometime back.

4)How are young people and their ideals presented in two stories in the collection. How far do you indentify with this young people?

In Tanjong Rhu, the little daughter was rude to her grandmother. In society now, teenagers are generally rude to their elderly grandmother.

3)With refrence to suitable story, dicuss how far change is shown to be either welcomed or feared.

In Paper, the change of how they were poor at first,and then became rich, and finally became bankrupt overnight. It was ironic twist to the story at the end as they finally did not achive what they desire and the husband became crazy and died of his greed.This type of change was not welcomed as this was not what they have expected to happen.

2)Select two stories in which there is conflict between parent and child, and show how far there is some resoultion of these difference at the end of

In Mid Autumn, the mother was waiting for the daughter to come back every Mid Autumn festival.Whereas her daughter always does not turn up. In the end of the story, the mother accepted her daughter's choice of leaving to Uganda.

In Tanjong Rhu, the son does not trust and believe his mother when she see's the past when using the binoculars. Her son though that she was lying and her eyes need treatment.Another conflict is when her son argued with her mother regarding her going for eye treatment. In the end the mother passed away.

1)How is motherhood presented in any two stories in the collection?

In Mid Autumn the mother cares alot for her daughter,it can be seen from her actions, such as adding her daughter's favourite ingredients into the mooncake and buying her lanturn. She works hard as a primary school teacher while her father does not.

In Paper, at the end of the story the mother paid for the funeral and specialy made his dream house out of paper for him even though her son did not treat her well during his life.

Pastime

Conflict(internal) An internal conflict in the story is that the story which Tai Poh claims that is not true (but might potray his life as well), might be true. It could be that he does not want to tell Mr Lee the truth because he is too shy to talk about his past, so he tries to potray it as fiction. Pg 214
Conflict (external) An external conflicts is the story told about Tai Poh, the one about a young man who decides to fight in the jungle. Pg 213
Climax I think that the climax of the story is when Mr Lee decides to tell his own little story about a security guard which might also reflect on Tai Poh’s life. It adds more suspense to the story from this point.
Resolution The resolution of the story is a revelation. Nothing much happens other than the conversation ending, but, it has made both of them realize certain things about their lives and that some things about their lives and that some things are best kept as stories.
Characters Tai Poh: Mysterious (tells a story which could be about himself but claims it is fiction pg 215)
: Creative (likes to make up stories to past the time pg 212)
: Shy (never share his stories pg 212)
Mr Lee : Attentive (listens to Tai Poh’s story attentively pg 216)
: Creative (makes up his own story after hearing Tai Poh’s pg 2!7)
: Persistant (wants to continue his story despite Tai Poh’s objection pg 217)
Man mention in Tai Poh’s story: Brave (would go on television pg 213)
: Ambitious (full of dreams pg 213)
: Reckless ( join a fighter group when he was young)

I think the most interesting segment of the storyis when Mr Lee decided to tell Tai Poh his own story. This made the reader more interested in the story and made me wonder what Mr Lee was intending to hint at Tai Poh.

A history of tea

Conflicts (external)
An external conflict in the story is the opium wars mentioned in the story. The Opium Wars broke out with the English ready to go to war for free trade (their right to sell opium) against the Chinese government. Pg 119-120

Conflicts (internal)
An internal conflict in the story is when Beverly mentions that she is going to China and is looking forward to it. This is despite the fact that she knows that most travellers find food terrible and expensive. Pg 112
Climax I think the climax of the story is when Beverly mentions that she was going to tour Asia. It gave the author of the story something to think about his own heritage and how he has never had a chance to explore Asia. Pg 113
Resolution The resolution of the story is more of a revelation in my opinion. Nothing much happens in the ending besides the fact that the conversation ends. It does, however, give the author the opportunity to think about his family tree, his relative and the history of tea that has an impact of his family. Pg 122
Characters Beverly: Smart (planned to study history at Oxford/Cambridge pg 111)
:Understanding(understands her mother’s love for tea pg 111)
:Choosey(only likes certain types of tea which is not to bitter or too sweet pg 109)
Aunt Sherrie: Tea addict (pg 111)
: Religious (does not approve of Beverly’s Jewish boyfriend pg 119)
: Not used to changes ( spoke English in a Singaporean tone even after living in England for almost ten years pg 119)
Grandmother: Religious (churchgoer pg 117)
: Traditional (maintains Chinese tradition pg 115)
: Calls people names (conjured a story that Uncle Raja was an oily man pg 112)


The most interesting segment of the story is when Beverly talks about her Jewish boyfriend and how her parents do not approve of her relationship with him. It surprises me that their religious views can be very narrow and made me curious about what Beverly will do about it.