Immigration and Identity

Ways with words

A. Words from the text to solve the crossword puzzle:

Across
2. as is certain to happen – inevitably
4. famous and respected – eminent
6. a temporary stay – sojourn
7. knowing everything – omniscient

Down
1. the state of being preoccupied – preoccupation
3. anxious or fearful that something bad will happen – apprehensive
5. a person of mixed white and black ancestry – mulatto

B. Find the meanings of the following words in a dictionary as they are used in the text.

a. melancholy

a deep feeling of sadness that lasts for a long time and often cannot be explained

b. elusive

difficult to find, define or achieve

c. motif

a subject, an idea that is developed in a work of literature

d. disdain

the feeling that somebody is not good enough to deserve your respect or attention

e. fabricate

to produce something false to decieve someone

f. intoxicate

to cause somebody to lose control of their behaviour or their physical and mental abilities

g. resentment

a feeling of anger or unhappiness about something that you think is unfair Homophones

D. Choose the right word to fill in the blanks.

a. Can you bury the box in the back garden? (bury/berry)

b. Alex could not break the branch off the tree. (break/brake)

c. Whose pencil is on the floor? (Who’s/Whose)

d. We have got very few (phew/few) tasks left.

e. Some tribes worship their gods before they prey. (prey/pray)

f. Damn it. Everything is messed up. (Dam /Damn)

g. What a wonderful lesson the professor presented. (lesson/lessen)

Comprehension

Answer these questions.

a. How is Willie Chandran different from the rest of his family?

Willie Chandran is different from the rest of his family as he is insecure about himself and his own identity.

b. Who is the main character of Half A Life? How is he described?

Willie Chandran is the main character of Half A Life. He was born in India to a Brahmin father and a poor mother 40-some years ago. His middle name comes from the name of an English writer called Somerest Maugham.

c. Why does Willie leave India?

Willie leaves India because he had no identity in India being born as a child of a high caste father and a low caste mother. He is hateful to his father and manages to get a scholarship to a college in London.

d. What is the revelation that Willie begin to feel in college and in London?

Willie begin to feel that he is secure and free unlike in India where racial discrimination plays a vital role. There he could remake himself, his past and his ancestry.

e. Why does Willie accompany Ana?

Willie accompanies Ana because she has a kind of high status in her colonial world and he can also find a complete acceptance there.

f. What is the central issue Naipal has raised in the novel?

In the novel Naipal has raised an issue of identity crisis regarding ethnicity and culture.

Critical Thinking

a. What kind of divided identity is depicted in the novel ‘Half a Life’? How do characters in the novel try to create new identities for themselves? Explain.

b. Discuss the similaries between the author and the protagonist in the noivel?

Writing

B. Write a review of a book/film you have recently read or watched.

Grammar

Change the following into indirect speech.

a. She said, "While I was having dinner, the phone rang."

She said that while she was having dinner, the phone rang.

b. My friend said, "Where are they staying?"

My friend asked where they were staying.

c. Jamila said, "I travel a lot in my job."

Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.

d. She said to me, "We lived in China for five years."

She told me that they had lived in China for five years.

e. He said to me, "Do you like ice-cream?"

He told me if I had liked ice-cream.

f. They said, "Hurray! We’ve won the match."

They exclaimed with delight that they had won the match.

g. He said, "I’d tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great."

He said that he’d tried everything without success, but this new medicine was great.

h. Sony said, "I go to the gym next to your house."

Sony said that she went to the gym next to my house.

i. He said, "Be quiet after 10 o’clock."

He told me to be quiet after 10 o’clock.

j. He said, "I don’t want to go to the party unless he invites me."

He said that he didn’t want to go to the party unless he invited him.

k. He said to me, "I will see you tomorrow if you meet me."

He told me that he would see me the following day if I met him.

l. She said, "If I were you, I would give up the work."

She said that if she were me, she would give up the work.