The+Namesake

=The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri=

//The Namesake// tells the journey of an Indian couple, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli as they join together through the tradition of arranged marriage and quickly immigrate from Calcutta to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although Ashoke is able to adjust rather easily into American lifestyle, Ashima struggles to find beauty in a country whose ways are entirely different from the country she was born into and loves. When Ashima gives birth to her first child, the first major cultural conflict is revealed over the naming of their son. After much trouble and deliberation, they decide to name him Gogol after Ashoke’s favorite Russian author, who is also said to play an important part in the saving of Ashoke’s life during a terrible accident years earlier. Gogol grows up in America struggling to find his way and identity in a world he seems to belong to only in part. The story follows Gogol through his life exploring the issues of the immigration experience, cultural conflicts, and the unique issues that develop for and between the first and second generations of an immigrant family.

Purcahse [|The Namesake] here.

Challenging Theme: Immigrant Families: Conflicts between Generations
The first generation to settle in a new country often comes through a combination of choice and necesity as in the case of Ashoke and Ashima. This combination of reasoning shapes the way they live their life in America. A part of this generation is curious about the cultural differences that this new country has to offer from the different norms of naming children to holiday traditions. At the same time Ashoke and Ashima (the first generation characters) remember their cultural norms from India and work to maintain many lifestyle choices into their life in America. However second generation immigrants like Gogol and Sonia have an entirely different experience. They face the challenge of embracing the American way of life they were born into without betraying the ways of their parents and their country of origin, India. The parents want them to fit in in America and succeed and so encourage them to learn English. At the same time there is always pressure from their parents to marry another Bengali and continue to live according to Bengali tradition. Jhumpa Lahiri's //The Namesake// provides an incredible insight into the lives of one family from India as they struggle to find balance between two very different cultures from one generation to the next.
 * Overview**


 * Ways to teach the theme**
 * Help foster empathy through the adoption of character personas: Before beginning the book provide students with a brief description of the four main characters; Ashoke, Ashima, Gogol and Sonia. Evenly and randomly assign a character persona to each student. Have students keep journals as they read the novel. Explain that as they reach they should play close attention to the character they were assigned and write a diary/journal from the perspective of that character. When the students have finished the book, have them use their entries to provide them with material for a role play scenario inspired by the book and created by you, their teacher.
 * To make the content relevant to the students lives, try having them journal in response to the following questions
 * Can recall a time in your life where you experienced a family culture of a friend much different from your own?
 * What differences did you notice?
 * Did you feel that you wished your family acted more like your friend's family?
 * How does this experience compare to what Gogol encounters?


 * Discussion questions related to theme**
 * 1) What do the titles "first generation" and "second generation" mean in regard to immigrants?
 * 2) What are the benefits and downfalls of belonging to one generation over the other?
 * 3) Examine the differences between the manner in which Ashima and Ashoke had to leave their families and how Goglol left his. What were their reasons for leaving? Who wanted to leave get away from their parents and who misses theirs? What do you believe accounts for these differences?
 * 4) “Every afternoon Ashima sleeps, but before nodding off she switches the television to Channel 2, and tells Gogol to watch Sesame Street and The Electric Company, in order to keep up with the English he uses at nursery school” (pg 54).
 * 5) What do you think about this passage and Ashima’s choice to encourage Gogol’s English through the use of television?
 * 6) As the novel progresses, Gogol becomes increasingly frustrated with his parents and how different their lifestyle is compared to that of his American friends. Looking back at this passage, discuss how Ashima played a role in causing Gogol to try to run away from her and Ashoke.
 * 7) Is there another way that immigrant parents can encourage their children to learn English and succeed in another culture without making them resent the culture of their parents?
 * 8) Why is it that Gogol wants to get away from his parents so badly?
 * 9) What does Gogol like and dislike about American culture? Bengali Culture?


 * Suggested Links/Resources**
 * 1) [|LitLovers]
 * 2) [|Immigrants in the USA Blog]

=
People of India basically follow the arranged marriage system, and they consider it as something great. Dating is a taboo in that country. However, it has its own merits and demerits. Indian people give much importance to family relationship. The system seems to protect the family. The parents take care of their children, and the children obey their parents. Parents find suitable spouses for their children from appropriate families. So, there is no chance of marrying outside their own religion, caste, social status or economic class. This protects the couple from the problems that usually originate from disparity of religion, caste and class. Through a marriage two families come into mutual relationship, and both families together try to work out the marriage if problems arise in the marriage.======


 * Ways to teach the theme**
 * In order to teach the topic of arranged marriages, I feel that a teacher must be open to their students' opinions and experiences with the topic. Doing a KWL chart as an anticiapatory set to start the classroom out who help to see what your class already knows, and wants to know.
 * Having your students research the topic on the internet could be helpful so that students could have the freedom to search whatever they would like dealing with the theme. After each student does their research, the class could come back and each student could talk about one aspect that they found out about the type of marriage.


 * Discussion questions related to theme**
 * 1) What is an arranged marriage?
 * 2) What cultures believe in arranged marriages and why?
 * 3) Why does the United States seem so weak when it comes to marriage? Why is the U.S. divorce rate higher than ever?
 * 4) How do different cultures feel about arranged marriage?


 * Suggested links / resources**
 * [|Is Arranged Marriage Really any Worse Than Craigslist?]
 * [|Definitions of Different Marriages]
 * Love Marriages vs. Arranged Marriage: http://weddings.iloveindia.com/features/love-and-arranged-marriages.html

Challenging Theme: American vs. Indian families
Throughout the book, differences in families from American culture and Indian culture are explored. The lead character, Gogol, is struggling with finding a happy middle ground balancing his native Indian culture and his more Americanized life, and one way that this is demonstrated is through comparisons versus his American girlfriend Maxine's family. While Maxine comes from a more typical American family, Gogol's upbringing is that of his more strict Indian culture. Because of the many guidelines he must follow in his home with his mother and father, he is pushed farther away from his heritage and culture and more towards the life of a culturally-benign American. Stories, encounters with both families, and clear feelings make this theme apparent.
 * Overview**


 * Ways to teach the theme**
 * A good opportunity to give your student's a way to read and act out the book is through reader's theatre. Student's are given the opportunity to put emotions and their own feelings, faces, and body language to the story, so it is much easier to understand the complex emotions felt by the characters.
 * Another fun way of making the theme of differences in families is through the visual "book in a box" strategy. This idea involves a creative response to the literature or theme which incorporates visual representations. For example, students could find pictures of different families, or ways the families differ, like physicality. This could also be a fun way to decorate a classroom and give student's who excel artistically a way to present their knowledge.


 * Discussion Questions**
 * 1) How do Gogol's feelings towards his family change throughout the book?
 * 2) What specific attributes do you think make Gogol want to live more of an "American" life?
 * 3) In ways do young adults today follow similar paths with their families as Gogol?
 * 4) How did Maxine's impressions of her family vs. Gogol's family affect how Gogol felt about his own family?
 * 5) What things did Ashima and Ashoke do to unintentionally push Gogol towards an American way of life?
 * 6) In what way do you think Gogol could live his traditional Indian life and his adopted American culture?

[|Culture of India]--This page goes into detail about the family structure in Indian culture.* [|Indian Family Value System]--This page discusses importance and traditions of families in India.* [|American Family Traditions]--This page discusses current traditions of American families.*
 * Suggested Links/Resources**
 * These pages can be used for current cultural comparisons.