Feedback on Hurdle Task

1. Feedback on Hurdle Task 25 July 2012

2. Word for the day? Disenfranchised

3. No Whose Reality Style • Topic sentences must be focussed on the text! • Focusing on the text doesn’t mean you start by recounting plot either!

4. Something really easy Rewrite the question at the top of your first page with lines above and below. This will help you maintain focus throughout the essay

5. Misconceptions ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is not about a Pakistani man who goes to America. To be clear, when the narrative opens, he has already been to America, and everywhere else. What’s with describing him as a Pakistani man? Just describe him as Pakistani.

6. Misconceptions • When watching the September 11 attacks in Manilla, Changez is in a hotel room in Manilla. He smiles He doesn’t suddenly realise that he hates America, he doesn’t have an identity crisis

7. Leave Alone The Chris = Christian symbolism. Although this may be true, be super careful with it. It doesn’t sound right when people claim that Changez is rejected because he doesn’t follow Christ. Likewise, if you’re saying he doesn’t ‘have’ (?) American values then you need to mention what these values are, with evidence. What evidence is there that he does not share the values of Americans he meets?

8. It’s not a simplistic tale • Changez doesn’t try to be an American, only to be stopped by the big nasty USA. • He doesn’t leave America simply because of racism.

9. Brackets – screech! • Avoid brackets – they severely disrupt the flow of your work.

10. Your content!

11. The Question “I was never an American. I was immediately a New Yorker.” How is Changez’s sense of identity altered over the course of the novel? Places Culture People World events Nostalgia His struggle to determine his place in the world

12. Using the quote If there is a quote in the question then try to use all or part of it in your intro. If it doesn’t fit, then avoid it. You must use the quote as part of a detailed section within your essay. Where though?

13. Minor Characters • When directed to include a minor character or two, simply mentioning their name while discussing Changez doesn’t count. EG: • Changez goes through many different identities as seen by people like Jim and Erica. SLACK!

14. Using a minor character Use the minor character – but sticking to the question.

15. Using a minor character while sticking to the question. Changez’s rumblings of nostalgia are brought to the forefront after America begins its invasion of Afghanistan. “It’s invasion by your countrymen caused me to tremble with fury”. His different identities come into direct conflict and he is unable to “focus on the fundamentals” any longer. Jim notes that Changez’s “Pakistani side” is “eating away” at him, and although he sympathises as a fellow “outsider”, he is unable to understand the inner turmoil that Changez is experiencing.

16. Janissaries Christian boys who were taken at a young age and trained to fight for the (Muslim) Ottoman Empire. They grew into fierce warriors who were loyal to their foreign masters.

17. Erica – The Allegory A lot of people included Erica What happens to her? You would need to add to any discussion about Erica, that Changez pursues her in the same way he pursues America. His attempts at making love to her are symbolic of his failure. Only in the guise of someone else can he make love to Erica. Only in the guise of someone else can he be successful in America.

18. Expression • Travelling to different countries around the world influences Changez’s identity. • According to the various settings in the novel, Changez alters his identity.

19. The American Although Changez’s character is a constantly shifting, Hamid presents this to us through the voice of the present day Changez who addresses the American at the beginning and end of each chapter. Due to the symmetry of Hamid’s writing

20. Who is Changez? – A final section. At the novel’s conclusion, Changez might now be comfortable with who he is, although readers are left unsure of his true involvement in the terrorist activities he so adamantly denies. Hamid warns us through Changez’s admonishment “You should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists”, which is the expectation many would have been led to. Certainly, the Changez who narrates the novel appears to be in control and in a reversal of the typical power dynamic, the American’s voice is never heard. With the waiter running towards them and the American reaching for something with a “glint of metal”, we are left to our own presumptions and prejudices to determine his ultimate identity and his fate.