1

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

A Pair of Jeans
Qaisra Shahraz

Content
Miriam is hurrying home Begum has to solve the problem phone call: white lie (Begums sisters daughter)
2
nd

ending

M. comes home meets her parents-in-law

discussion between Ayub (c) and Begum (p)

1 ending

st

M. takes her "dirty" clothes back on

"surreptitious glances"

Ayub and Begum left: "lousy excuse"

Miriam got angry and kicks her clothes

M. calls Farook

Fatima opens the door shocked

M. changed: "They are only clothes"

Miriam left

Discussion between M. and Fatima

Characters
Miriam - daughter of Fatima, Muslim, want to marry Farook, very integrated in the
western world, adapts both worlds, studies in Britain, beautiful.

Fatima - mother of Miriam, good friend of Begum, anxious about the marriage, helps her
daughter although she breaks the islamic tradition, tries to bridge the gap between tradition and western values.

Begum - mother of Farook, good fried of Fatima, loves Miriam like her own daughter, has an Ayub - dad of Farook, husband of Begum, Miriams future dad in law, strong ties with
islamic tradition, dominant. own opinion, obedient, Miriams mother-in-law.

Farook - son of Begum, Miriams future husband, he shares the same hobbies, he doesn`t
know anything about what happened.

Central Themes What is part of an identity (Do clothes really make a new
identity?) Gender (roles) and Islam (Why is Ayub so superior to Begum?) White lie (Why? Was this all right?)

Troubled communication (What did the clothes say? What was

understood?) Clash of cultures (Islamic and Western)

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

My Son the Fanatic

Hanif Kureishi

Content
Parvez in Alis clean room Parvez afraid: talks to his collegues drug theory: Bettina told symptoms no drugs but praying further discussions P. talks to B. "I've lost my son" dinner with Ali
alcohol escalation

B. meets Ali
tries to support Parvez

Ali: "a women like this"

Bettina jumped out of the taxi Parvez and Ali drove home and went up

"So who's the fanatic now?"

Ali: religious fanatic

Parvez hits Alis face

Characters
Parvez first generation immigrant from Punjabi (Pakistan), taxi driver, proud of his
son, not religious since his religious education, alcoholic (in the end), superior to his women left his girlfriend, cleaned out his room, left all his friends, religious fanatic?

Ali son of Parvez, second generation immigrant, broke his education as an accouter, Bettina prostitute, good friend of Parvez (for years), beautiful, not religious, knows a lot about underground phenomena (drugs,), nice, friendly

Central Themes
Fanaticism against Fundamentalism (What is Parvez, what
Ali?) Gender (roles) and Islam (Parvez and his wife discussion?) Culture gap/clash (Islamic and Western) Generation gap (first against second generation immigrant) So whos the fanatic now? Hitting the son?

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies

Salman Rushdie

Content

Miss Rehanna and the bus

offer: wrong passport

Miss Rehanna didn't get a permit

Miss Rehanna meets Ali: offer of Ali "Good advice is rarer than rubies"
Characters

hint of Ali

She talks to Ali

Miss Rehanna hadn't to pay anything

reconcilation (Vershnigung)

Miss Rehanna beautiful, clever, knows how to use her female charms, poor, selfconfident, engaged to her fianc in great-britain, needs to get a permit, independent from Islamic rules Muhammad Ali poor, bagger, cheater (tries to earn money by this), clever, overwhelmed by Miss Rehanna, abuses the Tuesday Women

General Themes Advices (Was Alis answer an advice? What needs a good
advice?) The 1 paragraph (Rehanna coming out of the bus)
st

Stereotypes (a fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or
thing but which is often not true in reality (false generalization)) effects Ali) Alis language (dialect)

Behavior and language of Miss Rehanna (how she

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

How to
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author title
general idea

main body
only key information no comments no interpretations

genre
...

no conclusion maximum: a sentence to summarize the content

topic sentence

no quotes present tense

conclusion

write a good characterization?

author title story role of the character ...

main body
round or flat character? character properties mainly direct or indirect characterisation examples, quotes,...

summarize the main elements name the elements as a list final sentence

topic sentence

conclusion

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

Words
Pair of Jeans
English Hybridity /hybrid identity (to express ones identity Midriff Belly shirt/top Tight clothes (to) display ones female charms Modesty / modest Self-conscious Embarrassed / embarrassment Self-confident / self-confidence Clothes as a means of communication Verbal/non-verbal/troubled/successful communication White lie (to) bring shame on somebody (to) save/restore family honour German Gemischte Identitt Seine Identitt ausdrcken (durch Kleidung) Taille Bauchfreies Shirt Enge Kleidung Seine weiblichen Reize zeigen Bescheidenheit / bescheiden Selbstbewusst Peinlich / Verlegenheit Selbstbewusst(sein) Kleidung als Mittel zur Kommunikation Verbale/non-verbale/gestrte/erfolgreiche Kommunikation Notlge Schande ber jemanden bringen Die Familienehre sichern/wiederherstellen

My Son the Fanatic

English Fanaticism / fanatic Fundamentalism / fundamentalist Jihad First / second generation immigrants Generation gap Culture gap/clash (to) be implicated in sth Purity vs. corruption (to) abandon sb/sth (to) alienate / alienation Metamorphosis (to) feel disgust / contempt for sb/sth Agony / agonized Devastation / devastated (to) cry for help German Fanatismus / Fanatiker Fundamentalismus / Fundamentalist Heiliger Krieg (der Muslime) Immigranten der ersten/zweiten Generation Generationenkonflikt Kulturkampf In etwas verwickelt sein Reinheit gegen Korruption Jmd/etw aufgeben Entfremden / Entfremdung Metamorphose Ekel/Verachtung fr jmd/etw fhlen Qual / qulend Verwstung / verwstet Um Hilfe schreien

English story summary

05.11.2012

Sven Kovacic

Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies

English Shanty-town Fraud Fake (British passport) Interrogation room (to) question sb/sth (to) expose / (to) unmask sb (to) humiliate sb (to) bewitch sb Fianc(e) Lecher/ lecherous (to) ogle (to) long for sb/sth (to) seduce / tempt sb (to) confirm / reverse a stereotype (to) take sth at face value German Barackensiedlung / Elendsviertel Betrug Geflscht(er britischer Ausweis) Verhrraum Jmd/etw fragen Jmd aussetzen/entlarven Jmd demtigen Jmd verzaubern Verlobter/Verlobte Lustmolch/lstern Starren Sich nach jmd/etw sehnen Jmd verfhren/locken Ein Vorurteil besttigen/wiederlegen Etwas fr bare Mnze nehmen