First Mandatory Task (of Three)

Your initial task: read the short story: Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Once in a Lifetime,” which first appeared in 2006. The narrator, a young Bengali-American woman named Hema, addresses — as “you” — Kaushik, a man three years older than she is, on whom she had a teenage crush. Like Hema, Kaushik counts as parents natives of the region of Bengal, in northeastern India. Both families speak Bengali as their native tongue and belong to the Hindu faith; furthermore, both fathers studied for doctoral degrees near Boston, Massachusetts — possibly at MIT. On the surface, this tale has little or nothing to do with Ireland, apart from brief references to individuals with Irish-sounding names, such as Kevin McGrath and Mrs. Hennessey. However, as we will learn, historical parallels and connections between Bengal and Ireland may inform the narrative — and major elements of the narrative may be based on James Joyce’s “The Dead,” our first text of the semester.

You can access Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Once in a Lifetime” (2006) as a printable PDF by clicking the icon above. Alternatively, you can read it by clicking here.

 Second Mandatory Task (of Three)

Your second task: complete and submit — via Folio, before the deadline — the single Write Now (i.e. written homework) exercise about the focal literary text. Refer to your syllabus and/or the course Folio page to check the submission deadline. No late work is accepted.

There are 10 questions, presented in reading order. In other words: the questions chronologically track the PDF that contains the assigned reading: Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2006 short story “Once in a Lifetime.” When attempting the questions, it’s advisable NOT to begin with Folio but instead to answer the questions, one after the other, in a Microsoft Word document, which you should save as you proceed. That way, you’ll always have proof that you completed the exercise, even if Folio goes down or otherwise doesn’t cooperate. When you have finished the entire Write Now exercise, you should review it carefully, save it again, and then submit it via Folio — either as a Microsoft Word document or a PDF — before the firm deadline. The ability to submit ceases at that time, and effort not received before the deadline earns a grade of zero. Another way of saying the above: late submission isn’t possible. Remember, please, that your grade depends not just on correct responses but also: complete sentences; good grammar; accurate spelling; and clear expression.

You can find the ten questions in a PDF document, available by clicking here or, alternatively, clicking the green bar immediately below.

Please be very mindful of the following statements, which appear on the course syllabus.

Do your own work. Students may not collaborate on the production of responses to Write Now quizzes (i.e. homework exercises). When grading, we pay close attention to similarities between submissions. A student found to have copied or otherwise relied on another student’s work (on even one occasion) — or found to have committed plagiarism — will receive an “F” for the entire course and, in addition, will be reported to the University for a hearing that may result in suspension or expulsion from GS.

Third Mandatory Task (of Three)

Your third task: study the instructional content. In order to render the lectures as clear as possible, your instructor has captured their essential material in written form, presented immediately below as a PDF: Written Account of Lahiri Material. Consider this document your primary resource when studying the focal text. Terms that have particular importance appear in highlighted form.

EXAM WORDS

When preparing for your exam about this work of literature, ensure that you are fully up to speed with the following data (all of which receive explanation in the written account):

Know with which region of India the characters identify ••• Calcutta (also known as Kolkata) ••• East India Company ••• Raj ••• The Namesake; Gogol ••• Gotra (a term that our notes associate with Kaushik) ••• Bindi (a term that our notes associate with Hema’s mom) ••• Food words: khichuri; pullao; trifle; fool ••• Shakespeare’s King Lear ••• Meanings of names: Hema; Kaushik; Choudhuri ••• What Hema finds problematic about the pajamas her grandmother mails to her as a gift ••• Atavistic ••• Diaspora ••• “tiger parenting” ••• Mass General; North Shore ••• European country of origin of founders of Indian corporation for which Dr. Choudhuri worked (when in Bombay) ••• Name of that corporation ••• Know which movie in the Star Wars series the story invokes ••• Movie Now, Voyager and cigarettes ••• Names of famous Irish hunger striker (initials = TM) and famous Indian one (JD) ••• Name of French perfume used by Hema’s mother; distinguishing feature of bottle top ••• Johnnie Walker brand ••• Album by Rolling Stones (released in 1969): overall album title; title of opening track ••• Widespread use of rape after British abandoned India ••• Yasmin Khan ••• Name of Hema’s Irish-American piano teacher ••• Religion of cook employed by Kaushik’s mom when their family lived in Bombay ••• Bengal exists today as Hindu-majority state of West Bengal (part of country of India) and Muslim-majority country of Bangladesh (“Bangla” refers to “Bengal”) ••• Mountbatten Plan ••• Jordan Marsh; Enchanted Village of St. Nicholas ••• Kevin McGrath ••• girl memorialized on tombstone: personal name; family name ••• distinguishing feature of home that Choudhuri family finally purchases ••• talking cure; therapeutic role-playing; Jacob L Moreno; psychodrama ••• Great Bengali Famine: first, 1769-1770; second, 1943-1944 ••• Ian Stephens; Statesman newspaper