Unit Plan for
The Namesake
A Novel By
Jhumpa Lahiri
Tom McGrann
CEE 593
Spring 2005
Professor LoMonico
October 26, 2005
Introduction
The Namesake Unit Plan was one of the
most challenging assignments that I have ever had the pleasure of working
on. After I first read the novel, I
found that it was going to be a lot harder than I thought to come up with a
Unit Plan from scratch. There were
limited resources available online that dealt with the instruction of the novel
or what were the best ways to go about presenting the novel to students in the
classroom. However, as I began to work
more closely on the assignment, I began to realize that I was actually less
restricted than a teacher who was required to design a Unit Plan for To Kill a Mockingbird or The Outsiders. Both of those particular works have been
researched and mined exhaustively for various assignments and activities. There is a wealth of information in
guidebooks and online resources that can be found relatively easily. Lahiri and The Namesake were un-chartered territory and the only other people
that seemed to be doing any work in these particular areas were my
classmates. From my field experience
hours in various high schools and middle schools on
I specifically designed this Unit Plan for students in a twelfth grade classroom. I based this classification not only on the reading material itself and the themes that were covered in the work, but also because there is a heavy amount of reading for the first nine days of the text. Looking back on the plan now, I see that it would probably make more sense to cut the required reading to twenty pages a night and expand the plan into a three or four week unit. As it stands right now, this plan covers thirteen days in the classroom with an average nightly assignment of thirty pages. Some of the themes that I found in the novel: the search for identity, what makes somebody an “American”, the duality in life that sometimes must face between their family and themselves, were themes that I thought that my students might feel comfortable talking about because they might be struggling with the same issues.
I thought of our own classroom discussions as I designed the plan. I remembered that some students actually hated this book with a passion and would go off on rants about how they would not teach it. Others embraced it totally, while others simply sat back and had a hard time trying to find out what they felt about this book. My goal for this Unit Plan is not to try and make every single student love The Namesake as a work or Lahiri as an author. I want the students to be able to look at a text more closely through the various performance and written exercises that I have developed. When the unit is over, I want them to be able to make an informed opinion about why they or why they did not like this particular text. Hopefully they can take some of the skills that they learned by reading this novel and working with the class and apply them to new books that they will encounter as they move past their high school lives. At the very least, they will have read a rather advanced novel, worked on various projects, both alone and in a group, and will have presented two pieces of writing for two legitimate types of publication.
The following is a breakdown for the various assignments and how much percentage of the final grade is given to each:
Online
IM Assignment 20%
Performance, Participation, etc. (Gogol/Ashoke scene, Dating Game) 10%
Spirit Reading/Found Poem 10%
Three responses to quotes/prompts 5%
Silent Scripts 5%
Letter to Lahiri 20%
Amazon review of text
10%
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day One.
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 35 copies of the Reading Log assignment.
What’s on For Today and Why:
My main objective today would be to
just discuss the opening thirty pages for the entire duration of today’s
class. I want the students to be able to
have lots of time in order to talk about their initial impressions of the text
and to try and see if there are any particular areas that might need further
discussion or development. While further
class times will be devoted exclusively to various assignments, I want to try
and allow for at least five minutes during each class period where the class
can raise any issues or ask a few questions about what is happening in the
text. Depending on the assignment for the day, this can be very informal or the
students can be rearranged into a circle format. Also, prompts can be written on the board to
invite discussion, if the class seems rather lackluster about the previous night’s
reading assignment. These prompts may be
taken from “the text so far” section of the plan. This particular section of the Unit Plan is
also available in order to help remind me of what is happening in the story as
we move through it.
What
to do: Attendance and any other classroom business
that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). The main focus of the rest of
today’s class will be to discuss the events that occurred in the opening thirty
pages. Towards the end of class, I want
to hand out a copy of the calendar which will describe the events that should
be occurring in class for the following two weeks. Their only homework assignment for tonight is
to read the next thirty pages and then to go to http://www.blogger.com/start and create
a blog account for their reading logs. I
do not want them to post anything yet, but to simply create a page. (37 Minutes).
The
text so far: From the opening lines from “The
Overcoat” to “soul on the street” on page 30.
Opens up in 1968 but also flashbacks to various years in
Reading Log Assignment:
Over the course of
the next two weeks, we will be reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Too often,
teachers focus on only letting students respond to a text after they have read
it. I want you all to have an
opportunity to respond to the text as you are reading it every day. I hope that you will find that you will
ultimately have a greater understanding of the text once we have finished
reading it together, because you will also be thinking and writing as we work
our way through. Over the next eight
days of class, you will be responsible for completing the text. I would like you to post at least six days
worth of reading logs. You will be
posting your logs on blogger.com. Each
posting should be no more than 250 words.
The final posting should be entered by the Friday after we finish
reading the text in class.
I am concerned that
you all are gathering information, reflecting and making connections between
what we are reading and how it might relate to your own lives as we read
together. I am less concerned with a
strict format for these reading logs. I
want you to feel comfortable in your responses and I want you all to feel free
to experiment with language and ideas.
One log might consist entirely of questions that you have as you
read. Another might be a further
exploration of a theme or quote that is talked about in class.
In preparing these
logs, please consider the following:
1)
Make
notes of interesting points or passages or anything that you want to remember
about lately;
2)
Try to
jot down questions as you read. Keep a
notebook or several sheets of paper handy as you work your way through each
night’s reading requirement.
3)
Attempt
to make predictions about what you think might happen next.
4)
Summarize
ideas that are surfacing within a given night’s reading.
5)
Evaluate
a classroom activity that we did in class.
This will be a great help to me in working with your class in the future
and designing plans that are both informative and interesting for you all.
6)
Attempt
to respond to prompts or quotes that I give you during class time. The limited amount of time that I provide
during class might not be enough for you to reflect upon a given topic. You can expand on your ideas by making a post
on blogger.com.
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Two.
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 35 copies each of IM assignment and poem by Morales.
What’s on For Today and Why: At the very beginning of this class, I want to draw the class’ attention to a quote that occurs much later in the story. “There’s no such thing as a perfect name. I think that human beings should be allowed to name themselves when they turn eighteen” (245). Since today’s reading assignment involves the first few mentions of the name controversy that Gogol will ultimately struggle with for the rest of the book, I want the students to reflect upon these words that he utters later in life. For the first five minutes of class, I want the students to reflect upon this statement in a free-write that they will immediately submit to me. At the top of this sheet of paper, I want the students to provide me with the address of their blog, so that I will be able to save links to all of them on my own computer. I will invite them all to reflect upon this particular quotation as they continue to read the novel and to post their responses on their reading logs.
For the remaining amount of time in class today, I would like to provide the students with an assignment sheet for an IM-related project that will be due by the end of the week in addition to providing them with the poem that I would like them to read. I would also like to devote the remaining class time in order to discuss possible themes that we see emerging in the text: the importance of names, immigrant experiences, identity and sense of self, etc.
What
to do: While students are writing their
responses to the quote from The Namesake,
I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and take attendance (5
Minutes). For the remaining 35 minutes,
I would like to hand out the IM project assignment sheet and “Child of the
The
text so far:
From “The apartment consists”
(30) to “no choice but to give in” (60).
Period of adjustment/transition to having Gogol back at home. Ashima is frightened but consumes her life
with Gogol. Misses language of
IM Assignment
I have arranged the class into four groups of five (based on birthday month) and I want you to talk with each other via an Instant Messenger service about the following poem. I will be giving you a few moments during class today when you can meet with your group members and plan a meeting time that you can all have access to a computer that supports some type of IM program. A service like AIM or Yahoo is acceptable, just as long as it is agreed upon by all members of your respective groups and it carries a timestamp feature.
Guidelines:
This assignment must be submitted to me by 5 o’clock on Friday evening. It is the responsibility of one of your group members to save the entire group’s IM conversation and e-mail it to me as an attachment. I would advise that everyone saves their conversation themselves, just to avoid relying totally on one other person to save it.
Directions:
1) On your own, read through the following poem by Aurora Levins Morales.
2) Once your group has agreed upon a time, I want you to all meet in an online chat room for 40 minutes. No more, no less. Please timestamp your conversation so that I will have an idea of when it started and when it stopped.
3) Consider the following questions as you participate in your discussion:
What does it mean to be a child of the
4) Since there are five group members and five stanzas to the poem, I want each
person to choose a stanza and respond to it as the father or mother of this child.
What might they say to their son or daughter after hearing them compose this
particular poem?
Once your 40 minutes is up, please save your entire conversation as an MS Word or other word processing program and e-mail it to me as an attachment by 5 o’clock this upcoming Friday evening. Of course, you can hand in this assignment as early as you would like.
If any of your groups have any problems with deciding upon a meeting time, please see me as soon as possible, to make alternate arrangements.
Child of the
I am a child of the
a light-skinned mestiza of the
a child of many diaspora, born into this continent at a crossroads.
I am a
a product of the ghettos of
An immigrant and the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants.
I speak English with passion: it’s the tongue of my consciousness,
a flashing knife blade of crystal, my tool, my craft.
I am Caribena, island grown. Spanish is in my flesh,
ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips:
the language of garlic and mangoes,
the singing in my poetry, the flying gestures of my hands.
I am of Latinoamerica, rooted in the history of my continent:
I speak from that body.
I am not african.
I am not taina. Taino is in me, but there is no way back.
I am not european.
I am new. History made me. My first language was spanglish.
I was born at the crossroads
And I am whole.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carabena-
Caribbean woman
Taino- Tainos were the Indian tribe indigenous to
Spanglish- Refers to the mixture of Spanish and English.
Description: The
Namesake Unit Plan- Day Three.
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 5 copies each of IM assignment and poem by Morales, for any students that were absent during the previous day.
What’s on For Today and Why: In a similar style to the previous day, I want the class to respond to a quote from the text and then turn it in to me. “At times his name, an entity shapeless and weightless, manages nevertheless to distress him physically, like the scratchy tag of a shirt he has been forced permanently to wear. At times he wishes he could disguise it, shorten it somehow….But Gogol, already short and catch, resists mutation.” I want them to keep these responses.
Gogol is beginning to struggle with his name. After his visit to the graveyard, he is aware
that names also die over time, just like people. While he is beginning to get frustrated over
his name, he is also growing wearing of traveling to
While students are writing their responses to the quote from The Namesake, I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and take attendance (5 Minutes). For the remainder of class, I want to turn everyone’s attention to one of the more important scenes in the text. From the top of page 74 until the bottom of page 78, Ashoke and Gogol meet in the latter’s room during his birthday celebration. If we take out all of the language that is not dialogue (excluding the flashback), we are left with:
G- “Come in”
A- “I ordered it from the bookstore, just for you. It’s difficult to find in hardcover these days. It’s a British publication, a very small press. It took four months to arrive. I hope you like it.”
G- “Thanks, Baba.”
G- “Thanks again.”
A- “I took the liberty of reading it first. It has been many years since I have read these stories. I hope you don’t mind.”
G- “No problem.”
A- “I feel a special kinship with Gogol, more than any other writer. Do you know why?”
G- “You like his stories?”
A- “Apart from that. He spent most of his adult life outside his homeland. Like me.”
G- “Right.”
A- “And there is another reason.”
G- “What’s that?”
A- “No other reason. Good night. Do you know what Dostoyevsky once said? We all came out of Gogol’s overcoat.”
G- “What’s that supposed to mean?”
A- “It will make sense to you one day. Many happy returns of the day.”
This relatively brief conversation occurs across four pages of text. There is a lot more that is told through the
narrator and also through the character’s movements in the scene. As a group, I want the class to help direct
variations on this scene. Volunteers
from the class can be chosen for the roles of Ashoke and Gogol. We can use five students for each role and
alternate between them as we attempt to shift the mood of the scene.
For the first attempt, we might try to stage the scene so that it matches exactly what occurs in the text- Gogol’s indifference, Ashoke’s hopefulness that Gogol will also share his love of the writer Gogol, and the awkwardness that might exist between the two. How might the characters’ body language and blocking change if we made the scene happier, with a more interested Gogol and an extremely passionate Ashoke? No changes to the dialogue would be made, but the students can determine the emphasis, speed and delivery style of the words as they are spoken in order to get a different message across to the audience.
What to do: While students are writing their responses to the quote from The Namesake, I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and take attendance (5 Minutes). For the remaining 35 minutes, I want to work with the class in helping to set up this brief scene from The Namesake.
The text so far: From “And so Gogol’s formal..” (60) to “shuffle through the door” (90). Many events occur over these thirty pages. Sonali (Sonia is born in 1973). She only has one name, but changes through her life. At rice ceremony, refuses food and puts dollar in mouth (“true American?”). Lean American ways, traditions. Celebrate Christmas- more exciting for the kids. Ashoke/Ashima try to balance Indian culture, send kids to Bengali school. Gogol would rather be in drawing class. His name seems normal to him- birthday cakes, books, school. Ganguli is anglicized form of Gangopadhyay. 1979- age 11. Gogol goes to cemetery as part of field trip. Looks at strange, flamboyant names. Realizes that names die over time. Holds drawings close to him. Mother is horrified that school would bring kids to graveyard.
1982- His 14th birthday. 1st Mention of Moushumi. 1st Mention of Beatles. He was born when they were near death
(1970). Passionate devotee. Side 3 of White Album Plays (“Birthday-
opening song”). Indian cassette of music
still in plastic. Father gives him short
stories of Gogol. Never read them
before. Doesn’t know reason behind his
name with father’s train accident. Gogol
hates questions about his name, explaining it, signing drawings, putting it on
nametags. Not Indian or American but
Russian!!!! Page 76- “At times his name,
an entity shapeless and weightless, manages nevertheless to distress him
physically, like the scratchy tag of a shirt he has been forced permanently to
wear.” Gogol sounds ludicrous to
him. “We all came out of Gogol’s
overcoat”- Dostoyevsky. His pet name is
his good name, and a last name is his first name. No one shares his name!!!—Isolation. Goes to
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Four.
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 10 copies each of IM assignment and poem by Morales, for any students that do not have either with them. 35 copies of the found poem from The Namesake.
What’s on For Today and Why: In preparation of the IM assignment that is due tomorrow, I want to begin today’s class with a spirit reading of the Morales poem. It is a relatively short poem, so it would lend itself to multiple readings. I want each student to read only as far as each individual line.
In an effort to connect some of the themes in the Morales
poem, to The Namesake, I have
selected a portion of the text from the text that slightly mirrors the style of
Morales’ poem. The poem discusses what
the child is and isn’t and in this particular passage, it is described what
Gogol (in addition to his parents) does and doesn’t do in this found poem. After we have concluded reading the Morales
poem, I want to turn the class’ attention to this found poem. We can read it together as a group and then
adopt the same spirit style as the Morales poem.
What to do: Attendance and any other classroom business that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). Spirit reading of the Morales poem (10 minutes). Distribution and spirit reading of the selection from The Namesake (10 minutes). The remaining fifteen minutes will be spent discussing the similarities and approaches of both poems. How might the found poem from The Namesake be altered to affect its style or mood?
Ode to a teenage Gogol
Gogol does not
Date anyone in high school. He suffers
Quiet crushes,
Which he admits to no one
On this girl
Or that girl with whom
He is already friends.
He does not attend dances
Or parties.
He and his group of friends,
Prefer to listen to
Dylan
And Clapton
And the Who,
And read Nietzsche in their spare time.
His parents do not
Find it strange that their son doesn’t date,
Does not rent a tuxedo
For his junior prom.
They see no reason to encourage Gogol,
Certainly not at his age.
Instead the urge him
To join the math team and maintain
His A average.
His father presses him
To pursue engineering,
Perhaps at MIT.
Assured by his
Grades and his apparent
Indifference to girls
His parents don’t suspect Gogol
Of being,
In his own fumbling way,
An American
Teenager.
Taken from The Namesake, page 93.
The text so far: From “The following day, Mr. Lawson” (90) to “something had changed” (120). Lawson discusses the rather grim end of Gogol’s life. Decline into madness, trouble meeting friends, aloof, loner, dies by suicide from starvation. Gogol can’t bring himself to read short story- would be paying tribute to a Namesake he doesn’t want. Does not date in high school, quiet crushes. Attends a university party, introduces himself as Nikhil to girl named Kim. She says that it is a lovely name. 1986- he decides to change his name before starting at Yale. Right of every American to rename if they want. Wants his resume, business card and diploma to bear his parents’ original choice. They protest. Gogol is a good name, too complicated to switch. Only person that doesn’t take Gogol seriously, feels chronically aware, is embarrassed or fixates on questioning the name is Gogol himself.
He says that he hates the name and changes it successfully,
but everyone still calls him Gogol. He
cannot escape that. Yale- new state,
number, name. He is able to transform
there. Separate world from
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan - Day Five.
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials
needed: Students should
have copies of The Namesake and their
notebooks. I want to show a small clip
from “The Concert for
What’s on For Today and Why: As I read The Namesake, I found that each page often spoke to my senses. Whether it was a description of a ceremony, a particular meal, or a style of music, I felt I was often very close to the situation that was being described. Since it would probably be logistically impossible to provide authentic clothing or traditional Indian food, I felt that I would attempt to bring some Indian music into the classroom.
And since Gogol is an avid follower of the Beatles, I felt
that a nice link between the two would be to include a scene from “The Concert
for
Once the clip is over, I would hope that the students would
want to talk more about what they had seen and what they had thought of the
music that they had heard. Music, food,
and dress seem to come up again and again throughout the novel. Plus, at this point in the novel, Gogol seems
to be immersing himself in Maxine’s world and there are contrasts made between
his parents and her parents’ ways of living.
In particular, Maxine’s reaction to her parents is a direct contrast to
Gogol’s views about his own parents.
What are his particular reasons for embarrassment and annoyance due to
his parents?
What
to do: Attendance and any other classroom
business that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). Viewing of clip from The Concert for
The
text so far: From “They avoid each other now”
(120) to “pretending not to hear” (150).
Revelation of the story behind his name, how the book saved his
life. Ashoke seems different to him,
more vulnerable, suffering from inconceivable suffering. Gogol feels that he was lied to, but Ashoke
says that he didn’t want to upset him and that he always meant for him to
know. Gogol’s pet name now means
something new to him now. He asks his
father if it reminds him of the accident, but he remarks that his name reminds
him of everything that followed. Scene
shifts to 1994- Gogol lives in NYC.
Graduated from architecture program at
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan - Day Six
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks.
What’s on For Today and Why: There
is a passage of time between Gogol’s birthday celebration and the next scene
which centers around Ashima and the death of Ashoke. While he is separated from his family and
spends his birthday with complete strangers and some of Maxine’s family, he
feels free. This is in direct contrast
to the scene with Ashima. She is
separated from Ashoke while he is in
I want the students to imagine that it is now one week after
Gogol’s birthday. He has returned to
What to do: Attendance and any other classroom business that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). Brief introduction to the concept of the Silent Conversation and arranging of students into pairs (5 minutes). Remainder of class time will be spent working in pairs on the telephone conversation between Gogol and Ashima. As the class draws to a close, I will collect their silent scripts.
The text so far: From “It’s a relief to be back” (150) to “bad news to bear” (180). Gogol feels disconnected from the world in this country paradise. There are no locks on the doors, and total freedom for all. Does not feel nostalgic for any vacation that he previously spent with his family. They were overwhelming, disorienting. Spends 27th birthday without his parents, first ever. Pg. 157, first referred to as “Nick”. What his father feared would happen. Described as American, not Indian. But, he feels for the first time in his life that he is free.
Contrast this to Ashima’s life of solitude. Cold, lonely, empty house. Works at library, first American friends
ever. Ashoke at hospital alone. Ashima works on Christmas cards, good names
have no place in her family. Hard for
her to understand children’s independence.
Sonia in CA. Ashoke passes away
due to massive heart attack. Gogol goes
to
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan - Day Seven
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. Overhead projector. Transparency sheets and markers. 35 index cards. 35 copies of Dating Game Assignment sheet.
What’s on For Today and Why: During this day’s reading assignment, we learn that Maxine and Gogol are no longer together. Moushumi was first mentioned briefly on page 73, a seemingly minor character, but has now returned to Gogol’s life as his third major love interest. During today and tomorrow’s class periods, I want the students to work on a “Dating Game” type of performance piece.
Since students might not be familiar with what the Dating Game Show was like, I would provide them with a brief summary of the show on the overhead projector.
What to do: Attendance and any other classroom business that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). Distribution of Dating Game Assignment sheet and index cards (2 minutes). As a class, I want to go over the description of the assignment and then devote the rest of the class time to allow the students to work on developing questions for Gogol and Ashima/Ashoke for the next day’s class (35 minutes).
The text so far: From “For ten days following” (180) to “taking these off for me?” (210). One year passes after Ashoke’s death. Gogol is no longer with Maxine. At times she remarked that she was jealous of the time that Gogol would spend with his sister and mother instead of her. She felt excluded. The photo of his father at their house is the closest thing that they have to a grave. Moushumi reenters the scene at the request of Ashima. She was engaged in the past year, but her fiancée broke off the engagement. Gogol and Moushumi meet over drinks and begin to catch up. He begins to constantly think of Moushumi. Her familiarity attracts him, the daughter of friends of his parents. They go on more dates. She buys a hat for him, he notices her eyeing a hat in the same store. He later returns and buys it for her. Holding on to it until an appropriate time that he can give it to her.
Dating
Game Assignment Sheet
The Dating Game: 1965-1973
From: http://timstvshowcase.com/datinggm.html
Three young men vied
for a date with a young woman who
was hidden from their view. She asked questions specially
prepared to reveal the romantic nature of each man and
later chose the one with whom she would like to have a date.
The couple was given either a night on the town or an
expense-paid trip to some fun locale. The game was also
played with one bachelor choosing from among three ladies.
For today and tomorrow’s classes, we are going to be
transforming our classroom into a game show studio. We will have Gogol talking to his three major
love interests in the novel so far (Ruth- from college (109-120), Maxine- his
beginning years in NYC (128-188), Moushumi- his latest girlfriend (193- Our
present section). In preparation for
this activity, I want each of you to develop a question that Gogol might ask
his potential dates. Look over the
sections that I mentioned for each character and try to develop questions based
on what you know from the characters by reading the text. Questions can be specific, such as “Ruth,
what were you hoping to find when you traveled to
Once you have prepared a question for Gogol, flip the card over and develop a question that Ashima or Ashoke might ask these three very different single women. Keep in mind that everyone will most likely have a turn playing any of these characters during the next day’s class.
Description: The
Namesake Unit Plan - Day Eight
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 5 copies of Dating Game Assignment sheet for any students that were absent during the previous day’s class or that lost their assignment sheet.
What’s on For Today and Why: During today’s class, I want the students to take turns performing in the various roles in front of the class. We can start off with volunteers for Gogol, Ruth, Maxine and Moushumi. Once Gogol has asked his question and one of the ladies has answered it, Gogol and the person that is playing one of the female contestants will leave the front of the room and then filter back into the class. New people from the class will then have to get up to the front of the room in order to take over the roles that were left vacant.
At the front of the room, I would like to arrange four chairs. One for Gogol with an imaginary wall that divides him from the three other chairs for Ruth, Maxine and Moushumi. Next to Gogol’s chair will be a stack of the index cards that were developed by the class during the previous day. It will be the responsibility of each Gogol to ask a question and then to leave the front, once it has been responded to by the contestants. Hopefully everybody will have a chance to both ask a question and to try and invent a response as one of the contestants. Once we are approximately halfway through the period, I want the cards to be flipped over and the students to begin to ask questions in the role of either Ashima or Ashoke.
What to do: Attendance and any other classroom business that might need to be take care of (3 minutes). Explanation of the above noted classroom activity for today. Who should sit in what chair, how many questions will be asked, what to do once a question is answered, etc. (5 minutes). For the remainder of the class, I want to try and split the time equally between having the students perform as Gogol and having them perform in the role of the parents. (32 minutes).
The
text so far: From “With both hands he pries the glasses”
(210) to “a breach of her own instinctive will.” (250). “Mo” and Gogol grow closer together. They share elements of their pasts, growing
up in
Marry within a year; both are uninvolved with the wedding. Gogol is now 30. Sonia remarks that he can’t change his name, he’s Gogol (page 221). He thinks of his parents’ courage and obedience to be arranged to be married. He gave Mo hat from first date and ring at same time, she was more shocked by the hat. She keeps her last name and mementos from Graham. Foreshadowing of breakup?
Travel to
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Nine
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks.
What’s on For Today and Why: My main objective today would be to discuss the ending of
the book. I want the students to be able
to have lots of time in order to talk about their final impressions of the text
and to try and see if there are any particular areas that might need further
discussion or development. While I am
taking attendance and returning grades for the IM project to the respective
groups, I want the students to work on a writing prompt.
On the pages of 286-287, it is
mentioned that Gogol views his life as being “formed and shaped” by a series of
accidents. “They were things for which
it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at,
trying to accept, interpret, comprehend. Things that should never have
happened, that seemed out of place and wrong, these were what prevailed, what
endured, in the end. (287)”
Take this quote and also consider
the following line from the John Lennon song, Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)-
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Reflect upon both of these
statements and consider their validity in the course of The Namesake, but also in your own, personal lives. Compose a response to these statements over
the next ten minutes and then hand them in to me.
Once this written response has
been collected, I want to devote the rest of the class time to talking about
the book. Who liked it? Who didn’t like it? Why do you feel the way you do? Are there any particular passages or moments
that seem to stick with you regardless of how you feel about the book as a
whole?
What
to do: While students are writing their
responses to the quote from The Namesake
and the Lennon song, I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and
take attendance (10 Minutes). The
remainder of class time will be spent discussing the students’ reactions to the
text as a whole. They just spent the
past two weeks working on finishing the book and I want them to have a chance
to voice their opinion of the text as a whole. As the class leaves, I will
remind them that there reading logs should be complete by the end of class
tomorrow. I will be checking them online
over the weekend. (30 Minutes).
The
conclusion of the text: From
“They can’t find the restaurant at first” (250) to the end of the novel
(290). Chapter 10 is exclusively from
Mo’s P.O.V. She just seems disinterested
and bored during her anniversary with Gogol.
She begins teaching and it is discussed how she decided against pursuing
a fellowship in
Met him while still in high school. Sense of desperation and lust about him even
years later. Reestablishes connection
with him. 9 years older. Becomes anonymous and inaccessible while with
him, reminds her of life in
Chapter 11 focuses on Gogol.
Mo in
Fast forward to 2000- Christmas at Ashima’s. House is sold, she will be dividing her time
between
Reflects upon how he has spent years maintaining distance
from his origins, while his parents always strived to stay close to
theirs. Even while he seemed aloof from
everything, he was always only 4 hours from home for his entire life so
far. Found out about affair in December
of 1999. Question sprung out of
him. Felt anger, humiliation, first time
another man’s name upset him more than his own.
Mo moved out, divorced shortly thereafter. He traveled to
Family’s life as a string of unforeseen accidents that begot more chance occurrences. Father’s train wreck, disappearance of his “real” name, Gogol’s eventual name and his distress about defining it, his attempt to correct and switch to Nikhil, learned that he can’t reinvent himself or break fully from his past, his name, his marriage and its quick end, his father’s death. All of these helped to shape Gogol into whom he became. By chance (like his father’s accident and other occurrences in the book) he finds collection of Gogol’s short stories. Ashoke never asked him again about the book after he gave it to him in 1982. Name that he grew to detest was the first thing that his father ever gave to him.
Realizes that without people to call him Gogol, the name
will ultimately vanish, forever replaced by Nikhil. Does not provide him with a sense of solace
or victory, instead he turns to the book and begins to read. Finds his father within the pages and ultimately
accepts the book that he had once forsaken.
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Ten
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 35 copies of the written interview that was conducted between Lahiri and the Houghton Mifflin Company. I would also need either access to a computer lab with 30 computers (each with headphone capabilities) or alternatively, one computer in our classroom with speakers and the capability to broadcast loud enough for the entire class to hear.
What’s on For Today and Why: During today’s class, I want the students to be able to get a greater sense of understanding about the novel through the author herself. After reviewing a few websites, I found a transcription of a written interview that was conducted with Lahiri and was a Houghton Mifflin Company Release.
I have also included a transcript of the interview in today’s day of the Unit Plan. However, the main focus that I want to try and achieve today is to have the students listen to an actual interview that was conducted with Lahiri by NPR. This interview was conducted on September 4, 2003 and was aired on Fresh Air from WHYY and NPR.
The running time of this particular program is approximately 19 minutes. With a 40 minute class period, I could hopefully have the students listen through the program in its entirety twice. I would ask them to take notes of the questions that Lahiri is asked and what some of her more interesting responses were. The interview opens with Lahiri reading approximately a half a page of text from The Namesake from pages 5-6. Lahiri then goes on to explain more about the good name vs. pet name issue, the delay in Ashoke telling Gogol the origins of his name, the divide between immigrant parents and their children, the duality that Lahiri experience as both an American and someone of Indian descent, and the duality of her experience with her own views on her parents arranged marriage. The author also talks briefly about her experience with her own experiences with writing.
Over the weekend, I want the students to the read the print version of the different interview with Lahiri. Hopefully they’ll be able to have a greater understanding of the work now that they’ve had a chance to both hear and read Lahiri’s own words about the novel itself. I want them to come up with at least 5 points that they felt were interesting in reading this interview and to also come up with 5 questions that they would like to ask Lahiri herself about The Namesake.
What to do: While students are listening to the NPR program with Lahiri, I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and take attendance (5 Minutes). Also, while the students are listening to the program I can also pass out the print copies of the Houghton Mifflin Company Release and inform them that this has to be read over the weekend.
A Conversation with Jhumpa Lahiri
Q.
In your first book, Interpreter of Maladies, some of the stories are set in
India, others in the
A.
When I began writing fiction seriously, my first attempts were, for some
reason, always set in
The
reason my first stories were set in
The
Namesake is, essentially, a story about life in the
Q.
The Namesake deals with Indian immigrants in the
A.
In a sense, very little. The question of identity is always a difficult one,
but especially so for those who are culturally displaced, as immigrants are, or
those who grow up in two worlds simultaneously, as is the case for their
children. The older I get, the more I am aware that I have somehow inherited a
sense of exile from my parents, even though in many ways I am so much more
American than they are. In fact, it is still very hard to think of myself as an
American. (This is of course complicated by the fact that I was born in
On
the other hand, the problem for the children of immigrants -- those with strong
ties to their country of origin -- is that they feel neither one thing nor the
other. This has been my experience, in any case. For example, I never know how
to answer the question "Where are you from?" If I say I'm from
Q. Can you talk a little bit more specifically about the conflicts you felt growing up as the child of immigrants?
A. It was always a question of allegiance, of choice. I wanted to please my parents and meet their expectations. I also wanted to meet the expectations of my American peers, and the expectations I put on myself to fit into American society. It's a classic case of divided identity, but depending on the degree to which the immigrants in question are willing to assimilate, the conflict is more or less pronounced.
My
parents were fearful and suspicious of
Now that I'm an adult I understand and sympathize more with my parents' predicament. But when I was a child it was harder for me to understand their views. At times I felt that their expectations for me were in direct opposition to the reality of the world we lived in. Things like dating, living on one's own, having close friendships with Americans, listening to American music and eating American food -- all of it was a mystery to them.
On
the other hand, when I was growing up,
Q. Did you feel as rebellious as your character Gogol does early in your novel?
A. Neither Gogol nor I were terribly rebellious, really. I suppose I, like Gogol, had my moments. But even ordinary things felt like a rebellion from my upbringing -- what I ate, what I listened to, whom I befriended, what I read. Things my American friends' parents wouldn't think to remark upon were always remarked upon by mine.
Q. In The Namesake, characters have both good names, used in public, and pet names, used by families. Is this still a tradition in Bengali families? Do you have both a public and a family name?
A.
I can't speak for all Bengalis. But all the Bengalis I know personally,
especially those living in
Q. You write frequently from the male point of view. Why?
A.
In the beginning I think it was mainly curiosity. I have no brothers, and
growing up, men generally seemed like mysterious creatures to me. Except for an
early story I wrote in college, the first thing I wrote from the male point of
view was the story "This Blessed House," in Interpreter of
Maladies. It was an exhilarating and liberating thing to do, so much so
that I wrote three stories in a row, all from the male perspective. It's a
challenge, as well. I always have to ask myself, would a man think this? do
this? I always knew that the protagonist of The Namesake would by a boy.
The original spark of the book was the fact that a friend of my cousin in
Q. Now that you've written both stories and a novel, which do you prefer? What was the transition like?
A. I feel attracted to both forms. Moving from the purity and intensity of the short story to the broader canvas of a novel felt liberating and, at times, overwhelming. Writing a novel is certainly more demanding than writing a story, and the stakes are higher. Every time I questioned something about the novel it potentially affected hundreds of pages of writing, not just ten or twenty. The revision process was far more rigorous and daunting. It was much more of a commitment in every way. And I was juggling much more than I ever have in a story, more characters, more scenes, more points of view.
At the same time, there's something more forgiving about a novel. It's roomier, messier, more tolerant than a short story. The action isn't under a microscope in quite the same way. Short stories, now matter how complex, always have a ruthless, distilled quality. They require more control than novels. I hope I can continue to write both.
Q. Have you re-evaluated any of your writing about men and/or marriage now that you are both a wife and mother?
A. Not really. The scenes about Ashima in labor and giving birth were written long before I became pregnant. I asked my friends and my mother and my mother's friends a lot of questions, and I based Ashima's experiences on the answers I got. Being married doesn't make writing about men any easier, just as my being a woman doesn't make writing about women any easier. It's always a challenge. That said, the experiences of marriage and motherhood have changed me profoundly, have grounded me in a way I've never been before. Motherhood, in particular, makes me look at life in an entirely different way. There's nothing to prepare you for it, nothing to compare it to. And I imagine that my future work will reflect or otherwise be informed by that change.
Q. You quote Dostoyevsky as saying, "We all came out of Gogol's overcoat." Has Nikolai Gogol had any influence on you as a writer?
A. I'm not sure influence is the right word. I don't turn to Gogol as consistently as I do to certain other writers when I'm struggling with character or language. His writing is more overtly comic, more antic and absurd than mine tends to be. But I admire his work enormously and reread a lot of it as I was working on the novel, in addition to reading biographical material. "The Overcoat" is such a superb story. It really does haunt me the way it haunts the character of Ashoke in the novel. I like to think that every writer I admire influences me in some way, by teaching me something about writing. Of course, without the inspiration of Nikolai Gogol, without his name and without his writing, my novel would never have been conceived. In that respect, this book came out of Gogol's overcoat, quite literally.
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Eleven
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 5 copies of the written interview that was conducted between Lahiri and the Houghton Mifflin Company for any students that were absent during the previous class. 35 copies of the sample letter to Salman Rushdie.
What’s on For Today and Why: For these final few days of the Unit, I want to turn the students’ attention towards composing two pieces of writing that they will ultimately publish. After looking at the Houghton Mills website, I found that they provide a section that describes how to contact the various authors that publish with them.
According to the website:
How do I contact a Houghton Mifflin author?
If you would like to write a letter to an author of a general interest fiction or nonfiction book, you can send it to Houghton Mifflin and we will forward it to him/her. Our policy is not to give out authors' addresses to protect their privacy. Please address the letter as follows:
Author's Name
c/o Houghton Mifflin Company, Trade Division,
Adult Editorial, 8th Floor
Based on the assignment over the weekend and
the NPR radio program, I want the students to be able to compose a letter to
Jhumpa Lahiri herself. They can draw
upon their reading logs and revisit questions that they developed during the
reading. They can also look upon the two
performance activities that we did (the scene with Gogol and Ashoke and the
Dating Game show) and talk about their experiences with these two hypothetical
situations and if either of them led them to developing more questions about
the story or the characters.
Their letter to Lahiri should be at the most
500 words. The students may choose to
talk about how they related to a character in the book or how some of the
actions or experiences in the novel mirrored some of their own experiences in
life. Additionally, they can attempt to
relay some of the questions that they developed and ask Ms. Lahiri herself.
I came across a website for a program in Alaska that held
a contest for letters that were composed by students and addressed to authors
that they recently read. Below is a sample letter from one of the runners up
that wrote to Salman Rushdie for The
Ground Beneath Her Feet.
Once the students have had a chance to read
the letter, I want them to spend the rest of class time, looking over their
notes and jotting down ideas for what they would like to talk to Ms. Lahiri
about in their 500 word letter. Their
assignment for the night is to take their notes home and work on preparing a
draft for class the next day.
What
to do: While I am taking attendance, I can
hand back any papers that need to be returned in addition to providing the
students with copies of the sample letter to the author (5 Minutes). Once the students have had a chance to read
the sample letter, I want to discuss the five points and five questions that
they had to compose over the weekend.
(20 Minutes). For the remainder
of the class time, I want the students to begin brainstorming on what they
would like to write to Lahiri in their 500 word letter. (15 Minutes).
Sample Letter to Author
Dear Mr. Rushdie,
It was by chance that I came across your book, The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I suppose you could also term it fate, luck, or a number of other expressions depending on your spiritual inclination. I have never been one to ascribe happenings to some nameless “other,” and so I hesitate to use the notion here. But the more I think about it, the more I cannot explain how your book found its way to me and how profoundly it pertains to my life in strictly rational terms.
I work in the local library after school. One day while shelving books I found the book blatantly misshelved. Sitting defiantly between books on how to raise an obedient dog, the title stared out at me. I pulled it out and studied the back cover. I found an array of adjectives spinning around the plot details. Romance, I thought, yuck. Rock-and-roll, bleh. I went and shelved it in the correct location.
A few days later, while looking for Ibsen, I spotted a book between shelves, crammed in a purgatory. Only a few pages were visible, but I dug a bit and succeeded in freeing it. You can imagine what book fell into my hands. This time I swam a bit deeper, opening the cover and glancing over the first page. The first few sentences were like a slap in the face. This was not a romance novel. What exactly it was I couldn’t tell, and so I delved deeper, trying to place it in a category, but it defied definition. By the time I realized that it wasn’t a book that you could put in a specific class, I was too far-gone to care. The wording captured me; the allusions and analogies to the great gods of the past made it seem like a Greek tale itself. I read the words sometimes even more than the story itself, concentrating on the placement of adjectives and the cadence of words.
Even then, I couldn’t just sit and read, my report on Solhenitsyn was looming. I returned the book to the shelf. The woman’s eyes on the cover, that had until now beckoned seductively, fiercely stared back. She had become angry, hurt. Am I not pretty enough? she seemed to ask. You are giving me up for a bunch of starving Russians? Yes, but I’ll come back.
I
started reading The Gulag Archipelago intensely, eating whole pages in
one gulp. I had incentive now. A warm vibrant
As I read the book, my life was facing a monotonous year, trapped in a tangible world where only grades and social standing mattered. This book reaffirmed in me the belief that we can’t see everything. In a world that is almost ours, otherworldly things happen, so why not here? I find myself closing one eye, hoping to catch a glimpse of Vina, staring out the windows of planes looking for a rip. Are they out there, sheltered behind an opaque curtain? I would like to think so. Out there, beyond the clouds, who knows what is hidden.
It reinstalled in me the hope of a divine love. Too much American pop culture drowns out higher spirituality. One-night stands and happily ever after endings force us to forget the pure beauty of love. I didn’t believe that one could tie in rock and roll with the supernatural power of genuine love, but here you proved me wrong. The music was the soul of the book, the spirit, the basis, the ground.
The characters also fascinated me. I saw myself mirrored in them, both my qualities and shortcomings. In Rai I saw my obsession with time, with split seconds of an era, frozen blinks. In Vina I saw my passionate nature, my differentiation between body and soul. My heart has broken like Persis’ when giving others first priority. My sometimes obsessive nature ties me to Ormus, as well as my constant searching of things not here.
As I go about my normal life, I don’t feel so outside the frame. I have faith that even in a normal world of corporate skyscrapers and furious genocide, love can still appear and prevail. The drudgery of normality does not swallow the ground beneath my feet. This book has become an affirmation of the world’s beauty and the purity of existence.
Holly
Janka
12th Grade
Cordova Jr./Sr. High School,
Teacher: Chris Wolfe
For our assignment:
How do I contact a Houghton Mifflin author?
If you would like to write a letter to an author of a general interest fiction or nonfiction book, you can send it to Houghton Mifflin and we will forward it to him/her. Our policy is not to give out authors' addresses to protect their privacy. Please address the letter as follows:
Author's Name
c/o Houghton Mifflin Company, Trade Division,
Adult Editorial, 8th Floor
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Twelve
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. 5 copies of the sample letter to Salman Rushdie that were provided in the last class for any students that were absent and missed them. I would also like to be able to either have the students in a computer lab with approximately 30 computers or have one computer in the classroom that is equipped to allow me to show a projection of what is occurring on the screen.
What’s on For Today and Why: The first half of class time today will be devoted to providing the students with the opportunity to continue working on their letters to Lahiri. During the second half of class, I want to be able to show the class some examples of written reviews that were submitted to Amazon.com.
I first want to show the students the opening page for a typical text on Amazon.com. For our purposes, I have selected The Overcoat and Other Short Stories by Gogol. Right under the title of the book, there is an average ranking of customer reviews based on a scale of five stars. As they scroll down the page, they can view some of the customer reviews of this book.
Some are not that helpful at all to new readers, and Amazon allows you to state whether or not you thought it was helpful to you:
0 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
ok
I guess..., October 30, 2000
Reviewer: A reader
I really didn't enjoy "The Nose". It was confusing, and seemed to be
moving in a pointless circle.
Other reviews are quite precise and give great detail as to some of the strengths (and sometimes weaknesses) of the given title.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Makes
most Russian literature seem absurdly solemn., December 19, 2001
|
Reviewer: |
darragh
o'donoghue ( |
The
four stories in this collection contrast a precise realism - whether it is the
evocation of place and atmosphere, or a description of civil service procedure
- with narratives of absurdity, fantasy and pure comedy. If the classic 19th
century novel, as epitomized by the likes of Tolstoy, mirrored a world-view
that society, people or history could be known and adequately represented in
fiction, than Gogol reveals the impossibility of applying that model to Russia
- his is an unstable, constantly metamorphosing, fluctuating and seemingly
random universe…………….
_______________________________________________________________________
I would then show the students how they can write and submit their own reviews. According to their website, reviews should follow this format:
General Review Writing Guidelines
Amazon.com wants your comments to be heard!
The recommended review length is 75 to 300 words.
Authors, publishers, and readers have separate review mechanisms. Please use the appropriate page.
What to include:
- Your review should focus on the book's content and context.
- The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a book, but also why. Feel free to mention related items and how this book rates in comparison to them.
What not to include:
Amazon.com is proud to provide this forum for you to air your opinions on the
items we feature. While we appreciate your time and comments, we respectfully
request that you refrain from including the following in your review:
- Spoilers! Please don't reveal crucial plot elements.
- Time-sensitive material (i.e., promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.).
- Commenting on other reviews visible on the page. Other reviews and their position on the page are subject to change without notice.
- Profanity, obscenities, or spiteful remarks.
- Single-word reviews. We want to know why you liked or disliked the item.
- Phone numbers, mail addresses, URLs.
- Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information.
- Solicitations for helpful votes.
A review is not an appropriate place to tell us our catalog has typos in it. If you'd like to tell us about a specific problem, please contact us.
Any review in violation of these guidelines will not be posted.
I
would ask that the students limit themselves to 300 words for this particular
posting on Amazon and to adhere to the guidelines that Amazon has requested.
What to do: While students are browsing through the Amazon website, I can hand back any papers that need to be returned and take attendance. Alternatively, if I have to give a solo demonstration of the site, I can take attendance briefly as the class is underway (5 Minutes). For the remaining 35 minutes, I would like to walk the students through the Amazon website. I would be positive that many have them have shopped on Amazon or browsed the latest selections of music, movies and books, but I would tend to think that a small percentage has ever posted any kind of review or reaction to a product. As they continue working on their letters to Lahiri, I would ask that they prepare a final draft of a 300 word review regarding The Namesake for the following class. The Amazon.com review is more informally based and as a result, should be completed in a relatively short amount of time. Their final versions of the Lahiri letter are due tomorrow in the final class for The Namesake.
Description: The Namesake Unit Plan- Day Thirteen
Duration: 40 minutes.
Materials needed: Students should have copies of The Namesake and their notebooks. They should also have final drafts of their letters to Lahiri and their Amazon.com postings.
What’s on For Today and Why: During this class period, I would like to collect both assignments from all of the students and then redistribute them so that each person in the class has a copy of each assignment from someone else. I want them to read each final draft and come up with a list of three points or questions that they did not consider in their own evaluations or during any period of time during which we were discussing The Namesake.
I feel that this will work well as a concluding activity because it gives each student a chance to read and learn about what other students were thinking as they were reading the same exact text. Plus, this sharing of information might help to strengthen our last day of discussion around The Namesake and Lahiri. It is my hope that through the conclusion of this plan that the students will now be able to look at a text more closely, especially with regard to characters and emerging themes, and be able to think critically and ask critical questions about what they are reading for the rest of their lives. If they are not fans of Lahiri, or her work after we have read The Namesake that is an acceptable loss. If the students are able to express clearly and concisely why they did not like a particular text then I will have felt that my Unit Plan turned out successfully.
What to do: I will take attendance briefly while the students are passing up both of their final assignments for today. (5 Minutes). The rest of class time will be spent sharing and reading each other’s comments and talking about what we have learned from each other as we have read this text.