Dienstag, 24. November 2009

homework: discuss why there might be such huge difference between the family members regarding identity

I thinkthe family thinks and lives weigh more traditional as Manny does. He was born in Britain and experienced a life which is really different from that one his family experienced in India. He goes to a school with lots of children who does not live like their parents and he also wants to be as free as they are. Ady for example is his best friend and he leads him into doing or living as he wants. But the main reason i think is the fact where he was born in. The Society influences him a lot.

Manny and his friends

relationship to Adrian (Ady)

-best friends, good relationship
-do a lot together
-knows about Manny´s family-situation / his problems
-talk about everything
-know each other since junior school
-Manny leads Ady astray ->shoplifting
-Ady=Manny´s future?!
-helps him to get to know Lisa
-Ady: key to western life
-"friendship first" ->spending time with Ady is a distraction from Manny´s problems

->will help him to break free / free himself from his family


relationship with Lisa

-Manny´s first girlfriend
-knows about his family situation / the arranged marriage
->supports him / wants to help him
-talk about Manny´s future
->how to escape
-Lisa: very open minded + understanding
-respect Manny + his family

->now support, help, guidance, love
will help him to break free


->Manny´s friends are a counterbalance to his family / his problems
->They make a difference in Manny´s life!

homework: characterisation of Manny´s mother / attitude towards the identity and how presented in the novel

Manny´s mother was born in India. She speaks Punjabi and a little bit of bad English. She spends all time long in the kitchen, cooking and watching Asian TV-channels. She is a good Punjabi-wife but she is not like a real mother. She doesn´t listen to Manny and never speaks to him. Only to shout at him or to ask what he wants to eat for dinner. She never helps Manny with his homework or even watches for him to do them. Maybe it is because she never went to school herself. She is introduced as "odd", like a stranger. All in all she does not really like her son Manny because he does not follow the traditions she lives for.

Manny´s mother behaves like she is described. She shouts at Manny if he does not follow the traditions and she is very strict with him. She wants to do everything very well so she does not get in trouble with her husband. Her identity and how she is presented in the novel is just the same.

Ekbal´s father and Manny´s father

Ekbal´s father

profession:
-doctor

character/beliefs:
-forward thinking
-chilled out
-doesn´t mind what colour Ekbal´s friends are

education:
-very important
-went to university

-> a good example of succesful integration


Manny´s father

profession:
-works in a factory for plastic

character/beliefs:
-conserves punjabi traditions
-strict, agressive, racist

education:
-doesn´t matter about it
-uneducated
-work is more important than education

->an example of failed integration


->there isn´t "the Punjabi" (degree of integration is very different)

homework: research on Leichester, especially Evington Road

-Bali Rai, the author of the novel "(un)arranged marriage" comes from Leicester. He went to London for a short period of time but then returned to Leicester, where he still lives.

-In the Evington Road there is the office of the Democratic Party. Since 2004 an Indian is in the house, who fights against racism.

reading diary: part one (short summaries)

Prologue
November 30th

The scene in the prologue takes place at November 30th in the toilet of a motorway service station at Leicester Forest East. It´s shortly before Manny´s wedding and he escapes into the stations toilet to think about the marriage, his old man and the new live he would get. His two brothers Harry and Ranjit are waiting for him. Manny feels angry and upset but also determined.

Part One: Four years earlier

Chapter One

Manny just turned 13 and hates being called Manjit, because it is a girl´s name. He also feels like an outsider. In this chapter the characters are introduced and the parents are introduced as "odd" because his mum is like a stranger and his dad either works or is drunk. He hits Manny and is called a racist. And what even is worse, Manny´s brothers are turning into newer versions of him. Manny has to share a room with Harry so they are often in trouble. Although his family doesn´t sees education as important Manny gets high grades at school. His best made is Adrian and they are always together. They even go shoplifting together because they want to be rebels.


Chapter Two
May

This chapter takes place in May and Manny is in year 8 at school. His father works in a plastic factory and saves every penny. His mum´s nephew Ekbal is allowed to do what he wants; his dad is a doctor and the exact opposite of Manny´s dad. He sees education as important and studied himelf. So Ekbal (Eky) is very lucky in contrast to Manny who is far away from happy.
He writes a plan of his future life and gets again in trouble with his brother Harry who gets married so the family drives away except of Manny who stays at home and watches TV as a Liverpool FC fan. His dad invites him to come with his family for the next wedding but Manny doesn´t want so his dad gets angry again. Manny thinks about the horror of getting married in four years and realizes that it is a serious plan.


Chapter Three
July

Chapter three takes place in July in the summer break between year 8 and 9. The shock keeps on playing in Manny´s head so he spends more and more time out with his friend Ady to detract from what is going on in his head. Manny gets angry of Harry so he bothers him as he always does with him. When Manny is out with Ady he describes his and Ady´s multicultural England. Ady says that a girl named Sahra wants to go out with him so Manny is jealous but they meet Sahra and her girlfriend, Lisa, in town. Manny sees her for the first time but is sure he wants Lisa as a girlfriend now.


Chapter Four
August

It is August. Manny can´t get Lisa out of his mind and can´t wait for the day that he is old enough to leave home. He is out with Ady again, who stole some pencils and Manny mentions the friendship first deal. Ady always changes the accent of his language. They meet the girls again in a shopping center and talk a bit before they invite them for a drink. Manny is fascinated of Lisa.


Chapter Five
October

This chapter takes place in October and year 9 in school begins. Ady helps Manny to meet Lisa but Manny can´t ask her out because he has his parents in his mind. If he ever brings a girl home he´d be dead. Manny dreams of being adopted so his parents aren´t his real parents. Later Ady and he go to Sahra´s house and just talked until Manny leaves them alone. Ady and Sahra think that Manny and Lisa would be good together. After that Manny asks Ady out about what has happened. He gets home late so his father is angry again and he gets trouble with Harry, who destroys a cassette from Ady. Ranjit comes in and calms the situation.


Chapter Six
December

Lisa and Manny are having a coffee in an Italian bar in town in December. It is their tenth date now. Their conversation is all about books and Manny gets to know that she is a Liverpool fan, too. They talk about their parents and Manny tells her about his family situation and she holds his hand. Manny comes home late again and his old man is really upset as usual. Lisa changed his life and makes a difference. Two weeks later Ekbal´s family comes and Ekbal and Manny talk about the marriage again. He tells him that it is meant deadly serious, so Manny is in big trouble. The only way not to get married is to make himself as unsuitable as possible, he thinks.

Sonntag, 22. November 2009

the characters

Manny

language:
- colloquial English, a bit Punjabi
- language of young people

education/ job:
- high grades at school
- wants to be good at school

religion:
- belongs to the Sikhs

ethnicity:
- his family want him to be a Punjabi boy
- he wants to be a Britain

friends:
- Adrian (Ady) is his best friend
- Lisa is his girlfriend later

philosophy of life:
- wants to live his own live
- wants to get a great education

role in family:
- black sheep
- only one who doesn´t like Punjabi traditions

attitude towards Britain:
- likes Britain
- behaves like a British
- has got British clothes


Harry

language:
- informal/ colloquial English and Punjabi

education/ job:
- works in a factory

religion:
- belongs to the Sikhs

ethnicity:
- proud to be a Punjabi

friends:
- only Punjabi ones

philosophy of life:
- wants to keep the traditions

role in family:
- wants to be like his father

attitude towards Britain:
- doesn´t like it
- lives there only because of the money


Ranjit

language:
- bad English but good Punjabi

education/ job:
- educated in traditional way of life
- works in a factory

religion:
- belongs to the Sikhs

friends:
- only Punjabi ones

ethnicity:
- from India, lives in Britain

philosophy of life:
- wants to be a typical Indian

role in family:
- wants to be like his father
- oldest son

attitude towards Britain:
- doesn´t like white


Father

language:
- Punjabi, bad English (difficult to understand)

education/ job:
- works in a factory
- education is not important for him

religion:
- belongs to the Sikhs (pretends to be religious but isn´t really)

ethnicity:
- from Punjab

friends:
- only friends in a bar he often drinks in

philosophy of life:
- keep traditions / culture

role in family:
- head of family
- alcoholic racist, dominant
- often hits sb

attitude towards Britain:
- against British culture
- not open for them


Mother

language:
- Punjabi, bad English

education / job:
- probably never went to school
- no job, but housewife

religion:
- belongs to the Sikhs

ethnicity:
- from India, Punjab

friends:
- no real friends, only in family

philosophy of life:
- follow the traditions

role in family:
- good Punjabi housewife

attitude towards Britain:
- doesn´t really like it but is happy about the money the family is earning there

Mittwoch, 18. November 2009

general information


The author

Bali Rai was born in 1971 in Leicester, England. He is an author of books for young people. Bali Rai is British but is the Son of an Indian immigrant. He studied political science and jobbed after he finished. While doing so he wrote his first book "(un)arranged marriage".


The narrator

First person narrator (Manny):
-> the presentation of the characters is therefore subjective and one sided

tone:
-negative, condescending because his family (parents + brothers) is different
-> because their cultural + personal identity is different

language:
-colloquial, slang, disrespectful


-> The members of Manny´s family see themselves differently from the way Manny depicts them!

preamble

This will be a website about the Book

"(un)arranged marriage by Bali Rai".

We discuss it in our English lesson and this will be a list of what we talked about and the exercises we had to do.

ENJOY reading =)