Composition and Lit

 

Read the following two short stories, and type your answers into the attached document below:

• Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Boundary”
• Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”

In a seperate word doc please write a reflection answering the following questions

 

1. Now that you have read all five short stories, which one do you think you enjoyed the most? Which one did you enjoy the least? Why? 
2. What surprised you about reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Boundary” and Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”?
3. Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds” is set during a pandemic that can affect individuals’ ability to communicate in a variety of ways. How does language, or the lack of it, motivate the characters (in positive or negative ways)? Is the protagonist, Rye, a dynamic character? If so, in what ways has she changed by the end of the story?
4. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Boundary,” she writes, “The owner lives abroad, but he’s not a foreigner like us.” Why is this an ironic statement? Why does the narrator’s family end up moving from the city to the country? How do the narrator and her family feel about living in the country? Explain.

Reading Comprehension Assignment:

Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds” & Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Boundary”

Type your answers in the boxes below.

1) Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”

	Main Characters (Identify Narrator)
	Setting (Time/Place)
	Summary of Events (What Happened?)
Central Conflict (Internal/External)
	Central Themes (Universal Idea(s) Explored throughout the Story)

2) Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Boundary”

Main Characters
(Identify Narrator)

Setting
(Time/Place)

Summary of Events
(What Happened?)

Central Themes
(Universal Idea(s) Explored throughout the Story)

Central Conflict(s) (Internal/External)