Thursday, April 3, 2014

Paragraph Answer for "A Spoiled Man"

Write an answer that is based on information found on the page you have been assigned. Try, as best you can, to connect what happens on that page to events that occur either before or after in the story. Use at least one literary term (setting, conflict, plot, irony etc.) in your answer. Quote the story at least once, but no more than 20 words, maximum, for all quotes. Identify the page number, please, as a heading before your paragraph. See my model answer for more ideas on what to do.

Write between 150 and 200 words. Bring your word processed work to class on Wednesday. Remember to do five annotations (on different pages than the one you were assigned) and bring them to class as well.

Link to the story online for easier cut and paste quoting.

20 comments:

Brad said...

Page 4

It is interesting to note how Rezak comes to be hired as a gardener by the American wife, Sonya Harouni. Daniyal Mueenuddin describes her as “an English major,” who uses the words of Yeats, Rilke and Keats “as a restorative,” painting her as a sensitive soul, but perhaps also as shallow and unable to think on her own. She wants to do more than Ghulam Rasool asks for Rezak because “It made her happy to think of spoiling [Rezak] in his old age.” It seems that Daniyal Mueenuddin means “spoiling” in two ways: the sense of treating someone indulgently and also of harming them from overindulgence. Mueenuddin only uses the word, “spoiling,” once in his story, worth noting as it connects to the title. The events that follow are indeed both—at times, Rezak has the indulgences of life as Sonya hoped; at others, he is seriously harmed by his involvement with her family. It is ironic that her desire to help Rezak backfires so badly, leading in some way to the loss of his wife, his torture, and his lonely death; all this from an innocent decision to hire him as gardener and to ease his passage through life.—199 words

Unknown said...

page 14, Destiny


The climax in “The Spoiled Man” arises when the main protagonist, Rezak, loses his pretty and young but “a little bit simple” wife. Being a God’s believer Rezak can only accept the next step that his fate reserved. At page fourteen he is physically paid back and is mistakenly punished for the “privileged” life. This passage of the story takes place in a disciplinary room. The writer, using a few brief dialogues, opens a window on the corrupt police institution in Pakistan. In addition, in this page -that I can title “the real truth”-, is revealed another sad part: “…This [Rezak] is some American woman’s pet servant.” A strong declaration that changed the flavour of all the narration while adding understanding of how the value of the people is directly proportional to the social (feudal) position retained. From this point on, the story takes a turn: the falling or failing action of Rezak. There are no questions, no rebellion; he just passively agrees to follow his celestial destiny.


Word count: 167

Unknown said...

I have been having some difficulties about definition of literary term relative to the Page 3. Can we really compare the describing of Rozak’s home with just setting? It is a bit more for him then a place for living, his “consolation”, element of his soul, but soul concerns to internal conflict. Watching his home, tiny enough “to shave without getting out of bed”, we can see Rozak values comfort (electric fan) and beautiful women (photographs of actresses on the wall) as any human. He got used to tiny size of his home so much that the Harouni’s house seemed to him large and ugly like “boulders on the mountain slope”. This cubicle portable house is so important for him that he always “kept a store of money, untouched no matter what, enough to pay for trucking this little house.” Regardless of his desperate life Rozak kept desire for independence and humor. He tries to “make a joke” of his possible future with “eating grass” communicating with Ghulam Rasool, and he doesn’t beg he asks for a job. The person, who has been able to keep positive human fetchers in spite of his unlucky difficult background, makes at least sympathy, especially if we know the unhappy end of story.

209 words

Betty Lau said...

Page 1
What makes the story "A Spoiled Man" marvelous is the plot that Daniyal Mueeuddin carries a foreshadowing on the first page. Mueenuddin exposits the plot in two ways: the characters of Rezak and Sonya, and the setting of Sonya's orchard. Mueenuddin starts the story with "[Rezak] stood at the stone gateway of [Sonya's] weekend home". He describes Rezak as "What a funny little man!" when Sonya smiles at him from the darkness of the car's interior, and also reveals that Rezak "had waited hours" to receive Sonya's recognition. On the other hand, Mueenuddin shows the reader the picture of a thriving orchard planted with apples, pine, jasmine, roses and lilies, which "[Sonya] had brought from America." All these descriptions illustrates clearly the exposition of the plot. From the beginning of the story on page 1, Mueenuddin foreshadows what is going on later in this interesting story.
150 words

Unknown said...

Page two

On page two, it showed how Rezak lived his life. He would live peacefully alone in his hut, as well as working with others if he could throughout the day. After a day's work, Rezak would always have a piece of tobacco to releive him. When it comes to lunch. Rezak would refuse to accept the food and the company of Ghulam Rasool after he had invited him for helped him unload the truck. Then afterward feeling regretful: "wishing that he had accepted". However, when he managed to get a treat (chicken) from his usual dinner, mostly composed of bread, Rezak would either force the waiter to eat with him. If refused, "Rezak [would] even become angry about it, leaving abruptly, the chicken still on the table." Rezak shows two sides of his personality: one is that he would refuse meal invitations and the other is that he would refuse to eat unless he shared the food with someone else. This shows some of Rezak's character as he has an addiction to tobacco, loves to invite and feels embarrassed when invited.
183 words

Amy said...

On page 10 of “A Spoiled Man" by Daniyal Mueenuddin, he continuously uses "setting" to describe the searching of " disappeared wife". Solitary Resak has looked for his young wife near his neighborhood, but still he can't find her trace this time. (She went missing "twice" and he found her by the valley.) He gathers himself together and asks some help from his manager " Ghulam Rosool", who commands four workers for extra help. The places of searching scenes are in Islamabad (The capital of Pakistan); the distances are about 10-20 kilometers such as Murree, Rawalpindi and Kashmir. Mueenuddin uses setting to tell more about Resak’s relationship with his colleagues. The reader finds that they [colleagues] are "eager as a pack of hounds”. Moreover, Mueenuddin uses the Harounis' Christmas party to introduce "Begum Sahib", who he is going to lead Resak to get involved to the higher investigation department which it leads Resak to a huge mistake. From getting some help to troublesome is Resak’s destiny next page. The setting personalizes the characters closely in this page.
--177 words--

Unknown said...

Page 15
It was the time for Rezak to leave this world after a sequence of events that ended up taking his miserable life. Somewhat I can imagine his life and the corruption of criminal justice system he was going through. I have some experience living in Peshawar, Pakistan just 200 miles away from the city where Rezak lived. The saddest part of the story is when Rezak think about his miserable life that his brothers took his land, his first wife passed away and getting accused of killing his new wife. His life was already miserable since young age. After he left the police station, his only dream was to have the very best gravestone for his grave. “The stonecutter, seeing his bent, trembling figure, thought, this old bird doesn’t know what good marble costs.” I agree with the thoughts going through the stonecutter’s head because it is common back there. As a kid I remember, whenever I bought something expensive the shopkeeper would make sure I had enough money before even giving me attention. Overall, I find this story upsetting because I can imagine Rezak’s life going through hardships before leaving this world.
193 words

Unknown said...

Page 2

The narrator describes some background and features of the character Rezak to readers. Rezak is a worker at the poultry sheds, and he lives far away from his family as he has been “outmaneuvered,” and “dispossessed” his property by his step-brothers. Moreover, the narrator shows us Rezak is “stubborn.” One detail is that he refuses to break bread with the gardeners even if Ghulam Rasool invites him. The other detail is that he insists on the waiter’s “eating the time-expired” chicken taken to the teahouse by him. However, Rezak likes to work with Ghulam Rasool and other gardeners and make friends with them, “wishing he had accepted.” The conflict between his wish and his current job causes him to ask Ghulam Rasool to help apply to work in the Ali Khan lands. This decision changes his life. Now that he is paid high salary beyond his hope, which Sonya wants to spoil him in his old age, he has a chance and desire to marry a young girl. After she disappears, he suffers terrible torture in the police station and dies alone. It is ironic that Rezak is “spoiled” by Sonya’s kindness, but good fortune turns to tragedy because of his class.

——202 words

Unknown said...

A Spoiled Man
On page twelve is the rise of conflict for the main character Rezak. It begins with Rezak being questioned, but seemingly not being a suspect. His simple minded wife has gone missing and the police are at the house asking some routine questions. They leave, but at dusk the police come back and pick Rezak up in an unmarked car. Rezak asks "did you find her?" The one in uniform replies "Yes, yes don`t worry." They all of a sudden hand cuff him, and Rezak says "but what have I done?" The officer replies "shut up Bubba."
Unfortunately Rezak has no idea that the situation gets much worse for him. Rezak gets beaten up badly, getting the police involved was the wrong thing to do. There is a lot of corruption within the police force. Involving the police just made his last days on earth even more unbearable. Rezak was never the same and lived his life in pain after the abuse he endured by the people who are supposed to serve and protect.

Unknown said...

Delshad Amini The Humans's Solitude Page 16

" At moments, as now, she (Sonya) felt closer to Ghulam Rasool than to anyone else in
Pakistan." . Sonya and Rezak were same. They were alone in their life. They affiliated
themselves with someone who wasn't an ordinary person. Sonya confabulated with Ghulam
Rasool with his " panderous manner" ; on the other hand , Rezak liked to live with a woman in
his hut " even one who wasn't right in the head.". The writer used a very nice simile when he
wanted to describe Sonya's loneliness. He explained Sonya's home "like an empty church or
a school when the children are gone.". She was extremely alone . Her best friend was her
valet. In contrast , Rezak didn't have any friend too. He was very sad because of his
loneliness. For example, when he wanted to eat something in a restaurant , " he shared( the
food) with whoever was there...". Daniyal Mueenuddin tells us that the solitary people " had
learned not to ask for help.". That was why, when Rezak asked for help to find his wife , his
misfortunes started. As Sadeq Hedayat , one of the best writer in Iran, said," There are certain
sores in life that gnaw at the soul in solitude which is not possible to speak about them to
others." . In my opinion , people dont have any remedy for our pains in our solitude lives.
222 words

HELEN NA said...

Razek’s “feebleminded” girl takes a significant role in the story by connecting the
first half of the story to the other . The first half evolve smoothly and easily, but
after Rezak’s wife appears, the story unfolds rapidly and roughly. Page 8 is a
landmark as that’s where the author, Daniyal Mueenuddin introduces Rezak’s
wife and that’s the place where he gives us detailed descriptions of the characters. In the process of finding Rezak’s wife, the author adds many characters so the readers can identify their personalities. As well, the conflict in story begins at the time that she is brought in to the plot. By marrying her, Rezak dreams of a great future like “bear him a son”, and “become a doctor”. Unfortunately his dreams are not reached because his life ends in his tragic death. Rezak’s wife is positioned at the center of the story connecting characters directly or indirectly. These characters include the policeman, Sonya, Rezak, Ghulam Rasool, and the DSP guy. Though the author names her as “A tiny thing of nineteen or twenty”, her role takes a critical part in forming a conflicts that leads the story in the direction chosen by the writer.

199 words

penina tran said...

page 9

When “Rezak returns to the hut at dusk after one of these excursions, he found that the fire had burned out in the hearth and his wife was gone” Daniyal Mueenuddin continues to describe the surroundings/setting of the story as Rezak was searching for his wife. The two goats that have also gone missing, slowly wondering with his lantern he walked towards the wooden gate that led down to the valley. “The fire caught crackling as it slowly warmed up the room, lying in his dark cabin”. Daniyal Mueenuddin was able to describe to us a perfect image of Rezak searching for his wife and his living conditions. Rezak showed different types of emotion’s in the story causing him to be very concerned, but yet a courageous man for being able to overcome his living situations with his job and family. I thought it was very ironic to see how different the story became after only reading the title. “A Spoiled Man”

-170 words

Unknown said...

There is a lot of external conflicts on page 13. Rezak is nothing but a humble man who believes he got more from life then he deserved. The American wife (Sonja)out of her boredom wants to help Rezak and instead she makes more trouble for him.When Rezak's wife went missing,she (Sonja)asked her husbands friends (police) to help him look for her which ultimately led to Rezak's arrest. It seemed that Rezak was punished for being an american wife's pet.The fact that he was Sonja's pet and thought that he lived the "privileged life" he did not deserve made police very angry.Even though the police knew that he didn't know whereabouts of his wife they tortured him anyway. They hanged him on the hook in the windowless room in the"strip,paint, polish" department. The large police officer who beat him up severely was ignorant to his begging and weeping to let him go. This all also shows as how corrupted the police really are in Pakistan.

176 words

Unknown said...

Page 17; The Shell

After Rezak’s death, Sonya with Ghulam Rasool and a gardener came to see his grave. After saying their prayers, Ghulam Rasool asked about old man’s cubicle. His little home, that meant everything for him, stood in its place as if its owner still lived there. Sonya ordered to put it “in a shaded corner somewhere not too visible, as a memorial.” It has become her trophy that she looked at once and then forgot about, letting the dust fall on it. Rezak’s shed is a setting that appears many times in the story. Moreover, it is the last scene in the story. At first, it stayed untouched. Then, as it is usual with old, forsaken buildings, it was damaged. Everything inside, including the old, dirty mattress, was stolen. The cabin stood there lifelessly exposed to the elements. Not long after he passed away, Rezak was forgotten.

146 words

Unknown said...

Page 6
The contrast between Rezak's world and Sonya's provides us with a glimpse into Sonya's personality. She see's the world through a distorted lens formed by her privileged life. When she see's Rezak's home she immediately assumes that he is bored on his own. But the life he is living is something that Rezak had always accepted and the additions include things that Rezak “had never even thought of wanting”. And also things that he never really needed as he throws them all away when he loses his wife. Another point of contrast that shows Sonya's spoiled personality is how she, multiple times in the story (even when others don't completely agree with her) gets whatever she wants. While Sonya can state a desire and the police chief will immediately set people on the job she gave them, Rezak can not even manage to share a cooked chicken. Even though they live in the same area Rezak's world is a complete contrast to Sonya's.
Word count: 163

Chelsea Kim said...

Page 3

The author continues explaining how Rezak gains his “independence” from the previous page. As a result, Rezak can get his own house, and I could easily imagine what it looks like through detailed descriptions. It is a good way to show what kind of character is Rezak and the setting of the story. There is Rezak’s simple hut – the old one. He will rebuild new hut later. It must be a very limited space because he could not stand inside, and its smell might be awful because a cotton mattress gives off a ripe animal odor. These props create an atmosphere of miserable poverty. The post of a movie star seems ridiculously, but it’s giving him consolation. To contact with Ghulam Rasool, the majordomo of Harouni’s house, Rezak planed very carefully, and succeeds. In the scene that Rezak is pleading Ghulam for help to get a new job, by his reaction, Ghulam seems generous and easygoing. Rezak thinks, “Close up, the house seemed to him ugly”. I think, he has had an inordinate fantasy for this house when he looked up it from far away, and that’s why he is disappointed. It could foreshadow the extreme conflict in reality to come.

-201 words

Unknown said...

Page 14

On page fourteen their was a very specific conflict that was found in the story of “A Spoiled Man” which would be torturing him to figure out what he did with his missing spouse. The protagonist, Rezak had his wife go missing one day when returning to his little cabin. After the wealthy couple he was working for got the law enforcers involved, they did not believe the poor mans story. The law enforcers had their own conclusion that Rezak took his wife into town and sold her for a profit. In conclusion to this they kidnapped, and aggressively interrogated Rezak by first strapping him to the wall, and then pinning him to the ground repeatedly hitting him, and taking turns. The big man had said “Come here…. You do it, since your interested. You need the practice.” At the end we was finally able to be released because, they were positive that he was clean. Though it is really sad, and unfair for Rezak since he was innocent, and the Big Man, and the D.S.P thought it was funny the way they handled him.

Word Count: 188

Unknown said...

Page seven became a extraordinary moment for Rezak. He meets young man at the Kalapani tea-house that lived in the same village of his childhood. The young man listened to Rezaks aspiration,"God has been good to me...I have one wish if he has given me sons of my own." Rezak is very humble character and always thankful for what he has, but wishes for a son of his own. This young man that knew Rezak had a clue he would be perfect for his cousins daughter. He asked Rezak if he can set an arrange marriage. Rezak created an internal conflict by thinking that he was making fun of him because of his age. Even though Rezak said to him "You're making fun of an old man" he was still hoping he wasn't. He thought about it profoundly of how their son can be a doctor so Rezak can retire and live happily ever after. In the very end of the page Rezak agreed for the arrange marriage.
-170 words-

Unknown said...

Page 4

Life is not easy especially for Rezak the protagonist of the story “a spoiled man”. It is unexpected that Rezak the spoiled man asked Ghulam Rasool for help twice in the novel and each time ended very differently. First time was on page 4 when Rezak needed a job and Rasool helped him to get the job by asking Sonya- Rasool’s master, the American wife to hire Rezak as a gardener. Rezak’s life had never been better since he got the job. He earned enough money to own two goats and a television. Later on he married a “feebleminded girl” and was enjoying his marriage until his wife went missing. On page 11, Rezak asked for Sonya’s help again through Rasool. “ Excuse me, Begum Sahib, may I trouble you with a small request? ” When Rasool asked Sonya the first time, Rezak got a wonderful job and changed his life. This time Rezak had another change in his life. However, in a bad way. He got tortured by the policemen and finally died alone. The irony of the story is that Rasool and Sonya was suppose to be Rezak’ saviors. Ironically, they indirectly killed him.

-about 192 words

Unknown said...

Page 5

Sonya Harouni decides to hire an old man not out of pity but feel of superiority, or as title says to spoil him and watch what he will do. Rezak never expected to earn that much money as it’s “more than he had ever made in his life.” Rezak starts to adapt to his new environment. He could allow himself groceries and TV; it was more than enough for Rezak since up until that point he was living outside with no money to find. When Sohail, her husband, gave a party Rezak was excited to show the result of his husbandry to Sonya. Rezak’s “soul melted”, hearing Sonya say, “Salaam, baba.” This shows that Rezak took a pride of his work protecting and cultivating Sonya’s garden. Near the end of party, Sonya called guests to look at Rezak’s hut, Rezak was proud showcasing his “house” describing it “like a car on dealer’s lot.” Rezak did not realize that they were looking down upon him. Rezak realizes that he was just lowly human being for them after the loss of his wife.