E-Book Group 3 (Short Stories)

TSLB1124 - LITERARY STUDIES IN
ENGLISH

Miss Nenny Djuhara bint Johari

GROUP 3 : SHORT

STORIES

Nur Insyirah
Nur Alya

Ainur Imanina
Aisyah

Short story #1
Sara and The Wedding by

Karim Raslan

Author's
Background

Karim was born in Malaysia in 1963. Educated
in both Malaysia and England, he read English
and Law at St Johns’ College, Cambridge.

Over the past twenty-two years, he has spent
his time as a columnist, lawyer, and regional
analyst.

Author's
Background

He writes a regular column for The Star, Sin
Chew Daily, Sinar Harian, Berita Harian
(Singapore), Dewan Masyarakat, South China
Morning Post, and Jakarta Globe.
He also contributes to other regional and
international publications. he divides his time
between Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.

social Societal education
Background

political

Karim Raslan is the founder of Karim Raslan is a political Karim Raslan is a Cambridge
KRA Group. The KRA Group analyst and most of his writings University alumnus with a
has offices in Kuala Lumpur,
often highlight politics and double major in business and
Jakarta and Singapore. society in Malaysia and politics. He had gained a
Indonesia
comprehensive understanding
of the two majors in southeast

Asia.

social Societal education
Background

political

Karim Raslan has a His father was a fervent UMNO In 1982, Karim attended
considerably more intriguing supporter and a right-hand man Cranbrook School. He
background because his father of Tun Abdul Razak, who served continued his education at Saint
is descended from Orang Kaya John College, University of
as Malaysia's former prime Cambridge, in 1986 after
Besar and Bangsawans in minister. graduating from high school.
Kuala Kangsar.

Summary of Sara and The
Wedding by Karim Raslan

This short story is about a plump girl
named Sara who is an educated city
woman and a well-known lawyer who
has successfully handled the majority
of cases involving VIP clients. Sara
will soon be thirty.

This story takes the setting of her
village, whereas her sister Shahnaz is
having her wedding with her
respectable husband, Azman.

Summary of Sara and The
Wedding by Karim Raslan

Sara frequently feels as like she is
being looked down upon by her cousin
and aunts in the run-up to the
wedding because her younger sister is
being married first before her.

Despite her own ego and
stubbornness, she does experience
feelings of being undesired at times.

She felt whole when Ramli, her
cousin, gave her the attention she
required—even if it just resulted in
getting raped.

The content of Sara and The
Wedding

In my opinion, this short story does
an excellent job of making readers
aware of the fact that persons who are
plus size do experience feelings.
These people are frequently ignored
and taken for granted, whether in
terms of a romantic connection or
when they genuinely help those
around them.

The content of Sara and The
Wedding

In a society where beauty standards
are valued, someone who looks nice
and accomplishes the same thing will
be viewed with greater respect. As a
result, only women with slender
bodies are featured in the majority of
beauty pageant competitions or top
model competitions.

The content of Sara and The
Wedding

In addition, I noted that this short
narrative has a strong subject of
women's empowerment. In spite of
her problem with feeling unloved and
uncared for, Sara is a strong
character. She is a well-known
attorney in KL who handled the
majority of cases defending
prominent individuals. Newspapers
frequently carry her name.

The content of Sara and The
Wedding

In addition, in this short story, people
that are in charge to do most of the job
in getting it done for the wedding are
also women. Kak Tipah who is in
charge of the caterer, she literally
shouted at the caterer when the dishes
are not satisfying.

As for men, Azman only existed in the
context when he is getting married
and when they are going to open the
bundle of gifts, while Ramli is only
there to have sex with Sara.

The content of Sara and The
Wedding

This shows that the people are
practicing patriarchal system, but in a
way, the women in the story were the
main focus and given more details by
the writer.

Karim, at one, tri-cycling with Fun Fact about Karim Raslan
older brother Johan
Due to the fact that Karim Raslan's father
passed away in a vehicle accident when he was
only seven years old, he enters an orphanage
at a young age.

One of his accomplishments is that
Martindale-Hubbell has listed him as a
trustworthy attorney.

Karim's father, Raslan Abdullah (left) with
Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak in 1970

(pic courtesy of Karim Raslan)

Fun Fact about Karim Raslan

The Lamborghini in which Karim's father To finish his writing voyage for the "Ceritalah"
died when he was seven (pic courtesy of series, he has been touring Southeast Asia,
visiting places including Indonesia, the
Karim Raslan) Philippines, and Sabah Sarawak. He has now
authored three installments of "Ceritalah," a
Baby Karim with (from left) his maternal book that recounts the lives of the individuals
grandmother, father, mother and older he encountered while travelling throughout
brother Johan (pic courtesy of Karim Raslan) Asia.

Karim’s Malaysian story is essentially about
learning to be Malaysian through the hearing
and re-telling of the stories of other
Malaysians.

Fun Fact about Karim Raslan

Karim (right), with brother Kam and mother He was born in Petaling Jaya but he moved to
Dorothy in the United Kingdom in 1983 (pic England and lived there for about 16 years
before returning to Malaysia in 1987.
courtesy of Karim Raslan)
Even though he was a mixed-race child, he
never encountered prejudice when he was a
young child.

"Father did like to dress in a dapper fashion,"
says Karim of the late Raslan (pic courtesy of

Karim Raslan)

Short story #2
The Story of An Hour by

Kate Chopin

Author's
Background

Born Katherine O'Flaherty on
February 8, 1850

Based in Louisiana, America
Considered by scholars as a
forerunner American 20th-

century feminist author
She is best known for her 1899

novel 'The Awakening'

Societal
Background

The third child of five children
born to Thomas O'Flaherty
and Eliza Faris
Her father was a successful
businessman from Ireland
She was raised as a Roman

Catholic and attended Sacred
Heart Academy (an institution

run by nuns)

Societal
Background

In 1855, her father was killed
in a railway accident due to a

collapsed bridge
She stopped attending the
academy and was tutored by
her great-grandmother,
Victoria Verdon Charleville

Societal
Background

In June 1870, Kate married
Oscar Chopin and they moved
to New Orleans, an influential

place of her writing
The couple had six children,
Jean Baptiste, Oscar Charles,
George Francis, Frederick,

Felix Andrew and Lelia

Societal
Background

Their marriage was a happy
one and her husband, Oscar

admired his wife's
intelligence and capability
However, by 1882, Oscar died
of swamp fever and left Kate

with $42,000 of debt

Summary of The
Story of an Hour

Louise Mallard has heart
trouble so when her husband

died, her sister, Josephine
must tell her carefully

The news comes from Louise's
husband's friend, Richards.
Her husband, Brently died in
a railroad disaster.

Summary of The
Story of an Hour

After the news of her
husband's death, Louise goes

upstairs to be alone in her
room.

She sits down and looks out of
her window. She sees trees,
smells approaching rain, and

hears a peddler yelling at what
he's selling.

Summary of The
Story of an Hour

She also hears someone
singing as well as the sounds
of sparrows, and there are
fluffy white clouds in the sky.
Due to the building emotions

within her, she begins
repeating the word Free! to
herself over and over again.

Summary of The
Story of an Hour

She is sure she will cry again if
the corpse of her husband is in

front of her eyes. However,
she also anticipates her future
freedom in the years ahead.

She feels ecstatic with her
newfound sense of
independence.

Summary of The
Story of an Hour

Josephine begs her to come
out of the room but she tells

her to go away.
Then she opens the door,
starts walking down the
stairs, where Richards is

waiting.

Summary of The

Story of an Hour

The front door unexpectedly
opens, and Brently comes in.
He actually hadn't been in the

train accident.
Josephine screams and
Richards tries to block Louise

from seeing him.
Later, she died of a heart

attack brought on by
happiness.

Fun facts about
Kate Chopin

Her death was caused by a
brain haemorrhage

When her husband died, she
was rumoured to be involved

with a married farmer
Financial liabilities pushed
her into a state of depression

Fun facts about

The Story of an

Hour

Chopin deals with the issues
of self-discovery and identity
Louise dying at the end of the
story signifies that she could

not bear to abandon her
newfound freedom and
return to life with her
husband, where she was
needed to bend her will to his.

Short story #3
The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Author's
Background

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in full Charlotte Anna
Perkins Stetson Gilman, née Charlotte Anna
Perkins, also called Charlotte Anna Perkins
Gilman

American feminist, lecturer, writer, born July 3, 1860, Hartford,
and publisher who was a leading Connecticut, U.S.

theorist of the women’s movement died August 17, 1935, Pasadena,
in the United States. California)

Societal
Background

Due to her father's ultimate abandonment of the family, Charlotte Perkins grew up
in poverty.

She wed Charles W. Stetson, an artist, in May 1884. After about a year, she started
to experience melancholy, which eventually led to a complete nervous collapse.

She quickly demonstrated that she was completely unsuitable to the domestic
routine of marriage. But after a successful journey to California in 1885, she

relocated to Pasadena with her little daughter in 1888. She sent her kid to live with
them after her ex-husband remarried a close friend of hers shortly after their
divorce in 1894.

Political Background

During Perkins Gilman's lifetime, the role of women in American
society was heavily restricted both socially and legally. At the
time of its publication, women were still twenty-six years away

from gaining the right to vote.



This viewpoint on women as childish and weak meant that they
were discouraged from having any control over their lives.

Women were encouraged or forced to defer to their husband’s
opinions in all aspects of life, including financially, socially, and

medically. Writing itself was revolutionary, since it would
create a sense of identity, and was thought to be too much for

the naturally fragile women.

Political Background

Women's health was a particularly misunderstood area of
medicine, as women were viewed as nervous, hysterical beings,
and were discouraged from doing anything to further “upset”

them. The prevailing wisdom of the day was that rest would
cure hysteria, when in reality the constant boredom and lack of

purpose likely worsened depression.
Perkins Gilman used her own experience in her first marriage

and postpartum depression as inspiration for The Yellow
Wallpaper, and illustrates how a woman’s lack of autonomy is

detrimental to her mental health.
Upon its publication, Perkins Gilman sent a copy of "The Yellow
Wallpaper" to the doctor who prescribed her the rest cure for

her postpartum depression.

Summary of The Yellow
Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" details the deterioration of a woman's
mental health while she is on a "rest cure" on a rented summer
country estate with her family. Her obsession with the yellow
wallpaper in her bedroom marks her descent into psychosis from

depression throughout the story.
The narrator of the story by disscussing her move to a beautiful
estate for the summer. Her husband, John, is also her doctor, and

the move is meant in part to help the narrator overcome her
“illness,” which she explains as nervous depression, or nervousness,
following the birth of their baby. John’s sister, Jennie, also lives with

them and works as their housekeeper.

Though her husband believes she will get better with rest and by not
worrying about anything, the narrator has an active imagination and

likes to write. He discourages her wonder about the house, and
dismisses her interests. She mentions her baby more than once,
though there is a nurse that cares for the baby, and the narrator

herself is too nervous to provide care.
The narrator and her husband move into a large room that has ugly,
yellow wallpaper that the narrator criticizes. She asks her husband if
they can change rooms and move downstairs, and he rejects her. The
more she stays in the room, the more the narrator’s fascination with

the hideous wallpaper grows.

After hosting family for July 4th, the narrator expresses feeling even
worse and more exhausted. She struggles to do daily activities, and
her mental state is deteriorating. John encourages her to rest more,
and the narrator hides her writing from him because he disapproves.

In the time between July 4th and their departure, the narrator is
seemingly driven insane by the yellow wallpaper; she sleeps all day
and stays up all night to stare at it, believing that it comes alive, and
the patterns change and move. Then, she begins to believe that there
is a woman in the wallpaper who alters the patterns and is watching

her.

A few weeks before their departure, John stays overnight in town and
the narrator wants to sleep in the room by herself so she can stare at
the wallpaper uninterrupted. She locks out Jennie and believes that
she can see the woman in the wallpaper. John returns and frantically

tries to be let in, and the narrator refuses; John is able to enter the
room and finds the narrator crawling on the floor. She claims that the
woman in the wallpaper has finally exited, and John faints, much to

her surprise.

Interesting Facts about
Charlotte and the text

Known For: Novelist and activist for
feminist reform

The yellow wallpaper in "The Yellow
Wallpaper" is a symbol of society and

patriarchy
Central High School's student-produced
film, "The Yellow Wallpaper," garnered

awards and praise from numerous
festivals: First place winner, Fault Line
Film Festival, Cape Girardeau. Official

selection, Golden Lion Film Festival,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Short story #4
Miss Brill by
Katherine Mansfield

Author's

Background

Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp;
14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New

Zealand writer, essayist and journalist,
widely considered one of the most influential

and important authors of the modernist
movement

Mansfield wrote short stories and poetry
under a variation of her own name,
Katherine Mansfield, which explored
anxiety, sexuality and existentialism

alongside a developing New Zealand identity.

Societal

Background

Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp was born in
1888 into a socially prominent Wellington
family in Thorndon. Her grandfather Arthur
Beauchamp briefly represented the Picton
electorate in parliament. Her father Harold
Beauchamp became the chairman of the
Bank of New Zealand and was knighted in

1923.
Her mother was Annie Burnell Beauchamp

(née Dyer), whose brother married the
daughter of Richard Seddon. Her extended

family included the author Countess
Elizabeth von Arnim,

Societal Mansfield was diagnosed with pulmonary
tuberculosis in 1917, and she died in France
Background
aged 34.
After being raised by her parents and her
beloved grandmother, she began school in

Karori with her sisters before attending
Wellington Girls' College.



She moved to London in 1903, where she
attended Queen's College with her sisters.
Mansfield recommenced playing the cello, an
occupation that she believed she would take
up professionally, but she began contributing

to the college newspaper with such
dedication that she eventually became its

editor.

SUMMARY OF MISS BRILL

Katherine Mansfield’s Miss Brill is a short story of a lonesome and an unmarried aged woman. She lives near Jardin
Publiques in French town. She makes ends meet by tutoring children and reading newspapers for an old man. Miss

Brill usually copes with her loneliness by spending her Sundays strolling in a park or garden.

At the beginning of the story, Miss Brill is looking forward to spending her Sunday strolling in the Jardin Publiques.
For which she wants to wear her beloved shabby fur coat. She tries to clean and brush it properly, so it could look
good. The music and the appealing beauty of the park fascinates her. She has the habit of discerning things and
people deeply. In the park she listens to the conversation of people without their knowing. She sits on her “special

seat” quietly. She is more focused towards eavesdropping on people as compared to the band music.

At first, an old couple sits right next to her silently. They strike her uninteresting, on the ground that they do not
speak. At that time, she is also reminded by the thoughts of a whining wife and an old English man on her previous

Sunday meeting.

After that, she shifts her attention towards the people. While this, she observes some pesky kids, an old beggar who
is selling flowers and a group of two girls and two soldiers. She seems captivating by all the things playing out before

her.

SUMMARY OF MISS BRILL

Suddenly, Miss Brill witnesses a girl in ermine toque who approaches a man dressed in
grey. They did a small talk for a while. In her mind she builds up thoughts for that pair.
However, the man seems rude to Miss Brill when he blows his cigarette’s smoke on that
girl’s face. While the girl with a shabby hat hides her humiliation by responding with a smile.
On witnessing this, Miss Brill feels uncomfortable. Therefore, she turns her attention

towards other things.

The seats previously occupied by an old couple are now filled by a young couple. Miss. Brill
thinks of them as a hero and heroine in her imagination while observing them. She tries to
eavesdrop on them. However, the young couple disrespects Miss Brill. They make fun of

her appearance and age and why is she present in the park. They rebuke her by calling
Miss.Brill a stupid old thing.

In response, Miss Brill leaves and does not stop by the bakery to buy a slice of honey cake.
As she arrives home, she doffs her fur coat and puts it back into the box.

Fun Facts about Katherine
Mansfield;

Mansfield's first printed stories appeared in She wrote in her journals of feeling alienated
the High School Reporter and the Wellington in New Zealand, and of how she had become
Girls' High School magazine in 1898 and 1899. disillusioned because of the repression of the
Her first formally published story "His Little
Māori people. Māori characters often are
Friend" appeared the following year in a portrayed in a sympathetic or positive light in
society magazine, New Zealand Graphic and her later stories, such as "How Pearl Button

Ladies Journal. Was Kidnapped"

Fun Facts about Miss Brill by
Katherine Mansfield;

This short story explores themes of isolation, Its lyrical quality and heart-wrenching story
rejection, and the loneliness that comes with demonstrate the grim reality of what it is like
trying to participate without really risking
your own emotions. As a spectator, Miss Brill to live in a world that is not protected by
is not only left out of life but isolated from it. illusions

Miss Brill is recognized as Katherine
Mansfield’s most famous short story

Short Story #5
Journey by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim

Author's Background

Shirley Geok-Lin Lim was born in
Malacca, Malaysia, and was raised by
her Chinese father. She went to
missionary schools.

Although Malay and the Hokkin
dialect of Chinese were her first
languages, she was able to read
English by the time she was six.