The museum leila aboulela

Running Head: GENDER EQUALITY 1

Gender Equality 12

Gender Equality and a Male’s Perspective in Leila Aboulela’s Short Stories

Jida Al-Mazrouei

G00046466

Gender Equality: A Male’s Perspective

ENG 215, SEC 01 – American University of Sharjah

[Due Date

[Try to adhere to APA formatting of the coversheet; I have also edited your header.]

Abstract

Leila Abdulla’s [Aboulela’s] The Ostrich “The Ostrich” [titles of short stories and articles should be between quotation marks and not italicized] (2001,2005) [spacing; correct all below] is a short story about a Sudanese man living in the UK who struggles with his identity. All he wants is to be accepted by society as well as behave like them. His personal issues cause him to be harsh towards his wife at times because she is a constant reminder of his nationality and traditions as she also comes from Sudan. Abdulla’s The Boy from The Kebab Shop (2001,2005) [Aboulela’s “The Boy from the Kebaba Shop” (2001, 2005)], also a short story, is about two mixed race young adults, Dina and Kadeem [Kassim], and the difference in their behavior towards their traditions and religion. The story also shows the struggles Kadeem [correct the spelling of Kassim in the essay] faces because of his parent’s very different nationalities. The final short story that I will be discussing, also by Abdulla is The Museum (2001,2005). This story is about a Nigerian [Sudanese] upper class university student and her classmate Bryan. This story also describes Sharia’s [Shadia’s] [try to get the names of the characters right] struggles with her appearance and her views about people who come from a lower social class than she does. This paper will describe the problems both the male and female characters in these short stories face, the main point of discussing both sexes is to make readers aware that males face the same self insecurities and issues that women face. [You need some theory articles on masculinity to use as a lens – white masculinity such as Bryan’s and Arab/African such as Majdy’s. You might also consider articles on patriarchy, especially in relation to Majdy.]

Keywords: The Ostrich, The Boy from The Kebab Shop, The Museum, males, insecurities.

[Moderate effort with abstract; watch out for high and low-order concerns.]

[Title required here again – see sample APA paper.]

Introduction

Leila Abdulla, is a Sudanese writer is [and] the author of these short stories [discussed in this essay] from her collection Colored Lights (2001, 2005). She was born in 1964 in Cairo, [;] her mother was Egyptian and her father was Sudanese. When she was still in [an] infant her parents moved her to Khartoum, Sudan, and she lived there until 1987. She studied at the Khartoum American School and at the Sisters’ School, a private Catholic High school where she learned English. She then continued her education at the University of Khartoum with a degree in Statistics. She then Travelled to the UK where she was awarded a M.Sc. and an MPhil in Statistics from the London School of Economics. She began her journey of writing in 1992 when she started working as a lecturer in Aberdeen College and later as a Research Assistant in Aberdeen University (provide an in-text citation for the source of this information; in addition, list this source in your references page). The three short stories I will be discussing from her collection The Colored Lights discuss characters that come from different cultural backgrounds and how they manage to make themselves comfortable and feel at home. [Provide a hint of your thesis – male insecurity.] [Moderate effort with introduction; edit for high and low-order concerns.]

Summary

The Ostrich Describes a Sudanese man, Majdy’s, self identity problems. He is ashamed of his race, nationality, [and] culture, while on the other hand his wife does not have a problem with her appearance or her cultural background. His inner conflicts cause him to act unfairly towards his wife at times. Further along in the story his wife constantly had flashbacks of “The Ostrich,” who represented her classmate. The Ostrich on the other hand, had once complimented her appearance and never gave her reason for self doubt. He [Her husband, Majdy, on the other hand,] is very desperate to show that although he is Arab and dark-skinned, he can still be “modern.”. [period inside – American versus Commonwealth punctuation] He has a love-hate relationship with his wife because she is a reflection of him. Right in the beginning of the story he says, “You look like something from the third world.” (Abdulla, 2001, p. 35). [Commendable effort with summary points; watch out for a significant level of low-order concerns and be sure to take advantage of the services offered by the Writing Center before submitting your work. Going forward, I will mainly focus on high-order concerns.] This proves that he gets angry when he sees his wife because she reminds him of his roots which is something he is not proud of. Sumra thinks about the Ostrich every now and then when she feels distant from her husband. Towards the end of the story when she hears that the ostrich is married she feels slightly envious of his new bride (Aboulela, 2001, pp. #-#). [Provide in-text citations at the end of each summary paragraph with a page span of each short story in the collection.]

The Boy from The Kebab Shop tells a story about Kaseem and Dina, two mixed race young adults and the confusions they face about their culture, mostly Kaseem. Dina lived more freely although she was a female, was more outgoing. Kaseem lived a stricter life, was more shy, quiet although they had similar nationalities. Dina’s mom was Egyptian and her dad was Scottish, Kaseem’s mom was Scottish and his dad was Moroccan. His nationality seemed to hold him back, he was mostly comfortable with making Arab friends at school. In this story Aboulela portrayed the male character as the more vulnerable sensitive one and the female main character as more outgoing and open to new ideas and change. It was also interesting to see how Dina was intrigued to learn more about her religion after seeing how closely Kaseem followed his religion, and bumping into him while he was praying. This story expresses one of the difficulties or confusions males can have in their lives (cite).

The museum tells a story about a high class Sudanese student Shadia studying abroad and her strange friendship with a Scottish student Bryan. Shadia is the one approaches Bryan for his statistics notes. Later on in the story Bryan invites her to a museum to have a look at a display about Africa, although she was hesitant at first because she is engaged she agreed to go. Shadia was surprised to discover that “Nothing was of her, nothing belonged to her life at home, what she missed. Here was Europe’s vision, the clichés about Africa: cold and old” (2001, p.115). The same way Shadia was quick to judge Bryan just because he did not come from a wealthy background, the museum was very stereotypical how they portrayed Africa. However, Bryan that the way Africa was portrayed in the museum is not the real Africa, and gave Shadia a chance to explain but she stayed quiet (cite). [Rephrase for better clarity and flow.] This story showed me how at times males can be victims of misrepresentation. [Avoid response in summary section.] [Commendable effort with summary points; watch out for a significant level of low-order concerns.]

Thesis

Most of us are aware of issues females deal with such as sexism, [;] however, in this paper I will be looking at the other side, and will explain some of the struggles male[s] deal with. Some of these struggles [They] include conflicts with self identity, judgement because of their wealth status [/class] and even because of their culture or religion. At times males are judged more harshly because society has a lot of expectations from them. For example, most societies expect men to be confident, without realizing that they are humans who may have personal issues of their own and may be going through struggles. Society usually expects men to behave in a masculine manner, where crying is frowned upon or revealing their true feelings is seen as feminine, [;] that on its own is a struggle. [Interesting thesis; you, however, need to beef it up with a theoretical source/lens on masculinity or a related matter. Please do some research on Summons/JSTOR/MLA databases or visit the research help desk in the library. In addition, please read sample essays on iLearn and see how the theoretical source/angle is linked to the various theses statements.]

Literature Review and Theoretical Overview

[A literature review and theoretical overview – about 1-2 pages – is missing. Who else has written about masculinity in regard to Aboulela’s works and what did they say? What new insight does your work/essay provide? What theoretical lens could you use to beef up your thesis and critical analysis? Consider Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask and provide a brief overview of relevant material.]

Response

In The Ostrich Majdy acts unfairly towards his wife at times but that is only because he deals with self identity problems on a daily basis, he is constantly in a battle with himself because he does not feel worthy enough to be living among white people. [You might consider Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask as a theoretical lens in regard to Majdy’s racial identity problems. I have attached it to this e-mail.] His Sudanese wife is a mirror image of his culture background so it seems that there is a love hate relationship, especially because she seems to be proud of her origins and who she is. Sumra, Majdy’s wife does not understand her husband’s bitterness and takes it personally, but if she had looked deeper she might be able to help him open his eyes and realize that he should be proud of who he is. Sumra reflects back to her former classmate” The Ostrich” from time to time especially on the days where she does not feel appreciated enough by Majdy. “I was wrong to return. All the laughter and confidence has been left behind.” ( 2001, p. 41). [Interesting discussion in support of thesis; it would be stronger with theory from Fanon. In addition, edit for low-order concerns.] [Shift of discussion point – new paragraph.] Although forcing her to remove her headscarf is frowned upon in general, there is pain behind his decision, Majdy is desperate for acceptance by the “white British” that he does not want them to automatically assume that Sumra is scarfed because he forced her to, it is a daily battle for Mjady to have all these thoughts going on in his mind. In Kaseem’s mind he is trapped between following the religion he was taught as a child and being frowned upon by the british society he is currenty living in. [Interesting discussion here; consider getting a research article on the politics of the hijab/veil in the UK/Europe, the husband/male factor, and issues of perceptions in regard to oppression of women and men’s role in this. This could strengthen your response point.]

In the short story The Boy from The Kebab Shop, the main characters are Kaseem and Dina. They are both children of mixed cultural parents and have different struggles of discovering their identity. Kaseem in specific has difficulties staying close to his religion yet still being curious when he finds himself attracted to Dina, a frequent visitor of the kebab shop that he works in. Kaseem feels more comfortable with Arab students because of his shy personality. “But he made friends with some of the other boys in class, Arab boys who recognized his name straight away.” (2001, p. 58) However, his struggles had a good turn when they influenced Dina and intrigued her to try to become more in touch with her religion. She was curious about her religion when she bumped into Kaseem performing prayers at the staff room of the kebab shop. Although they both came from similar backgrounds they had very different mentalities and it was interesting to read how Aboulela showed both the male and female’s side to the story. Usually people who are interested in feminism and are very strict followers tend to look past the struggles males might endure and struggle with, weather they are young adults or grown men. [Flesh out Karim’s struggles some more, especially in regard to finding/making friends, finding a mentor/father figure, and finding a woman to love with similar cultural/religious/moral sentiments.]

In The Museum was very intriguing to (Aboulela, 2001) read because of how Aboulela portrayed the male character as the victim of judgement and stereotype. When Shadia found out about Bryan’s parents work and financial status she immediately judged him and viewed herself too good for him, although she is the one who pursued a friendship in order to have notes for statistics after hearing that Bryan is intelligent. The same way some women are judged by society and are expected to behave a certain way, men deal with struggles of their own as well. On the other hand, when Bryan invite Shadia to a trip to the museum she was speechless of how wrong they portrayed Africa, and although Bryan knew it was wrongly viewed and Africa has so much more to offer he gave her a chance to explain more about her roots. It is true that we hear a lot about how unfairly women are treated and that they do not have the same rights as men, this increases the pressure on men to always maintain a perfect image. [Try to develop Bryan’s struggles some more; find an article on class in Scotland as well as research on the challenges of interracial love/relationships, especially on a white man such as Bryan and the resistance he might face in his own or the girl’s community. Consider the aftereffects of colonialism as well, which make the relationship between Shadia and Bryan more complicated. Theory article on these issues would beef up your analysis of Bryan and his relationship with Shadia.]

Conclusion

Before judging anyone, weather it is a man or woman we must think outside the box and think about the reason someone may behave in a certain manner. Everyone deals with their own struggles behind closed doors and unfortunately we live in a world that is very quick to judge without giving people the benefit of the doubt. Men deal with struggles just as women do, perhaps not the same, however that does not make them less painful or difficult to deal with. Some of the struggles males face include conflicts with self identity, judgement because of their wealth status and even because of their culture or religion or maybe even race. [Moderate effort with conclusion; it will resonate better after the aforementioned revision suggestions as well as attention to low-order concerns.]

Sources: [References]

(Aboulela, Coloured lights , 2001) [List the Aboulela sources using APA documentation style.]

[You need a few more sources to list, mainly research articles in support of your response points; research articles from your literature review, which is missing; and at least one theory/critical article, which you use as a lens to read Aboulela’s work.]

Dear Jida,

Thank you for sharing your essay. I looked forward to receiving a more refined version after

revision.

Essay Grade = 70% + 4% Extra Credit = 74% = 59.2/80

Quiz Grade = 41% = 8.2/20

Overall Grade = 59.2 + 8.2 = 67.4% D

Best wishes,

Lily

Grading color codes:

· Yellow highlights indicate a problem.

· Gray highlights are usually corrections or instructions.

· Blue highlights are commendable/good aspects of your essay.

Additional Comments:

· Low-order concerns: grammar, punctuation, sentence clarity issues, flow, etc.

· High-order concerns: major problems such as missing or weak thesis; response points that do not support the thesis; essay structure/form issues; lack of supporting research/sources for your response points, etc.

Please see an explanation of essay grades [A to F] below.

Core Components & Multiple Trait Rubric for the Literary Critical Paper

Assignment Criteria

Content

Intertextuality

Mechanics

Organization

Style

A

Fully meets assignment requirements with originality.

Displays critical thinking, originality and unity in coherent presentation of appropriate support material. Engages reader in provocative conversation.

Includes relevant source material synthesized skillfully and integrated smoothly.

Demonstrates an excellent level of accuracy and skill in grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Includes logical development of ideas, using appropriate evidence with sophisticated use of cohesion and assignment structure.

Demonstrates concise and vivid style, appropriate for the assignment.

B

Fully meets assignment requirements with some degree of originality.

Displays critical thinking and unity in coherent presentation of appropriate support material. Engages reader in interesting conversation.

Uses generally relevant and credible sources correctly incorporated and documented.

Demonstrates a moderately high level of accuracy and skill in grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Includes logical development of ideas, using appropriate evidence with more than adequate use of cohesion and assignment structure.

Demonstrates clear and consistent style, appropriate for the assignment.

C

Meets most assignment requirements to some extent, but some requirements are ineffectively addressed.

Displays adequate critical thinking in somewhat coherent presentation of mostly appropriate support material.

Generally uses adequate sources with information from texts somewhat effectively, with minor documentation errors.

Demonstrates a moderate level of accuracy and skill in grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Includes somewhat logical development of ideas, using somewhat appropriate evidence with adequate use of cohesion and assignment structure.

Demonstrates generally adequate style appropriate for the assignment.

D

Meets some of the assignment requirements to a limited extent.

Displays little, if any, critical thinking in incoherent presentation with minimal reference to support material.

Uses inadequate and/or inappropriate sources with information from texts poorly incorporated, with major documentation errors.

Demonstrates a less than adequate level of accuracy and skill in grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Includes limited development of ideas, using minimal evidence with inadequate use of cohesion and assignment structure.

Demonstrates marginally effective style appropriate for the assignment.

F

Meets few or none of the assignment requirements.

Displays lack of critical thinking in incoherent presentation with no support material.

Includes unsupported claims and/or personal opinion with little, if any, reference to sources.

Demonstrates minimal accuracy and skill in grammar, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Includes no discernible development of ideas, using little, if any, evidence with no use of cohesion and/or assignment structure.

Demonstrates lack of clarity in style and/or style is inappropriate for the assignment.

0

Is not submitted or is plagiarized.

Revision Policy:

Revision is required. The act of going to the Writing Center alone does not merit a grade by itself. It is merely a stage in the revision process. A student has to implement the recommendations of the Writing Center/peer reviewer as well as my own original detailed comments or issues discussed during conferences. Revisions have to be comprehensive to merit a grade increase.

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