60 pages • 2 hours read
A Family Supper
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Essay Topics
Consider the title of the story. Why might have Ishiguro chosen this title? What expectations does it establish for the reader, and why?
Consider the different female characters. In what ways do they represent stereotypical portrayals of femininity? How do they stray from those stereotypes? Provide specific examples from the text to support your answers.
Consider the different male characters. In what ways do they represent stereotypical portrayals of masculinity? How do they stray from those stereotypes? Provide specific examples from the text to support your answers.
How might the large empty house and the haunted garden be read as symbols? Take the ghost, for example: What might she come to symbolize for the narrator and his family?
Compare and contrast the characters of the narrator and Kikuko. In what ways are they foils of one another? How are they similar and different?
The story has a limited first-person point of view and sticks closely to the narrator’s perspective for the entire text. How might his subjective point of view change our understanding of the other characters and events in the story?
Consider the short story’s date of publication and its intended audience. Why might Ishiguro have chosen a family drama to convey different messages about war and xenophobia?
Consider the figure of the ghost. Who do you think the ghost is, and what do you think it represents?
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By Kazuo Ishiguro
