F4 SHORT STORY - LEAVING

SYNOPSIS

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PLOT

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CHARACTERS

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THEMES

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MORAL VALUES

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PRACTICE 1

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1. The following are the short story and drama studied in the literature component in English Language.
Short Stories - Tanjung Rhu by Minfong HO
- Leaving by M.G.Vassanji
Drama - The Right Thing to Do by Martyn Ford

Choose any one of the text above and answer the question below.
Everyone has someone that they admire." With close reference to the text, which character do you
admire the most?

MODEL RESPONSE
Leaving by M.G. Vasasanji is the short sory I learnt. This story is about Aloo a young boy who wants
to pursue his studies in America. Aloo is the youngest child in a single-parent family. Aloo is a bright student
and he is inspired to go to America after his ex-teacher Mr Datoo talks so much about America. His mother
does not take him seriously until a well-known university, California Institute of Technology offers him a
place there with full scholarship. Seeing her son's determination, finally with heavy heart, Mother relents to
Aloo and allow him to go to America. There are many characters that I admire in the story. The character
that I admire the most is Mother because she is determine , caring and loving and selfless.

The first reason why I admire Mother the most is because she is a determine woman because she
always put her children first. She is a single mother with five children. Her husband passed away when she
was thirty-three. This is shown in the story when she chooses to stay with her children rather than remarry
and loses them. She sold her shop after her daughter Razia was married. She wanted her sons the narrator
and Aloo to study hard. She moved from Uhuru, a noisy and busy palace to Upanga. She became a tailor in
Upanga. She hoped for the two youngest children, her flesh and blood to to excel in their studies. Upanga
was a quiet place, with wild land and tall trees was a perfect place for her sons to study. As we can clearly
see now Mother is a determined woman because she always put her children first.
Next, Mother is loving and caring. She feels sad when her children leave her. She finds it difficult to let
Aloo go to America. This is shown in the story when she told Aloo that she cannot afford to send him to
America. Three thousand shillings was a large amount of money. Aloo was very upset. Aloo was the apple
of her eyes. Seeing her son's disappointment, Mother sought advices from Mr Velji. Mr Velji was very
impressed when he learnt that Aloo got flying colour results in his examinations. Mr Velji told Mother that
going to America would be good for Aloo's future but added that she might lose Aloo as he might not return
to Upanga. She decided to let her son to go to America after listening to Mr Velji advises. It is as clear as day
that Mother is a loving and caring person.
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Lastly, I admire Mother because she is selfless because she allows Aloo to go to America. Mother asks Aloo
to show her the prospectus of the university. Aloo eagerly shows her the prospectus and tells her he can learn
everything there. This is shown in the story when she thought deeply about the offer Aloo received. Aloo
was a very ambitious boy who wanted a better life for himself. He did not want to venture into agriculture in
the local university. He sought for a better opportunity and was ecstatic to receive the scholarship to study in
California Institute of Technology. He hungered to learn more. Letting Aloo to go to America depicts her
selflessness as she knew he would be devastated is she refused him. Mother also feared that Aloo would pick
up negatives habits. She sternly warned Aloo not to marry with a white woman and stayed away from
smoking and drinking. Even knowing that she might never see him again, Mother decided to let him go to
America. Now we can see that Mother is selfless because she allows Aloo to go to America.
In a nutshell, the character that I admire the most is Mother. There are many various reasons why I
admire her such as she is determine , caring and loving and selfless. The character teaches me to be
determined, caring and loving and selfless.

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Paragraph 1 i. State the name The story that I have studied is Leaving by M.G.
of the story Vassanji. The character that I admire in the story
is Aloo’s mother. There are several reasons why I
ii. State the think she is an admirable character. Two of the
character that you reasons are she has foresight for her children and
have chosen. selfless.
Paragraph 2 Synopsis of the story The story is about a family that lives in Tanzania.
The family comprises of Mother and her five
children, Firoz, the Narrator, Aloo, Razia and
Mehroon. The main character, Aloo, has just
completed his secondary studies. He obtained
straight As in his examination and and he has a
dream to study in America. He applied to various
universities there and he was offered a scholarship
to further his studies in Medicine at the California
Institute of Technology in America. Since Aloo’s
mother is a poor single parent, she had to face some
challenges in fulfilling her son’s dream.
Paragraph 3 · Reason 1 Aloo’s mother has foresight in raising her children
has foresight well. She had a store at the busy Uhuru Street. She
sold the store and moved to Upanga, a much
加PG9, POINT 3 quieter part of Dar es Salaams city. She did this to
avoid her children spending time working in the
family store. Instead, she wanted them to
concentrate on her studies. Her plan has paid off
when Aloo succeeded in obtaining straight As in
his school’s final examination. This makes her an
admirable character.
Paragraph 4 · Reason 2 Another trait that is to be admired in Aloo’s mother
Selflessness is selflessness. She lost her husband when she was
only 33 years old. Since then, she had a few
加PG 8 , POINT 1 marriage proposals but she turned all of them
down. The tradition was that she would have to
send her five children to a children’s home once
she remarries. Aloo’s mother did not want to lose
her children so she sacrificed her own happiness.
Because of her selflessness, she was able to raise
her children well. Aloo scored straight As in his
final examination, the Narrator is studying at a
university, Mehroon and Razia are already
married, and her eldest son, Firoz, is working in
the office in a big shop

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Paragraph 5 · Reason 3 The last trait in Aloo’s mother that makes her
overcome her inner admirable is her ability to overcome her inner
fear fear. From the story, Mother was initially
adamant坚持 not to let Aloo further his studies in
America, a place which is very far from where
they live. As a single mother, she was scared that
Aloo will leave and not to return. As they are
poor, she also feared that she was unable to face
the challenge of raising the money for Aloo’s
ticket and some expenses for him to go to
America. However, when she realised that Aloo
was very determined with his plan, she managed
to overcome her fear and changed her mind. As
the result, she decided to let him go and helped
him pursue his dreams. At the end of the story,
Aloo was on his way to America.
Paragraph 6 Conclusion From the reasons stated above, one cannot help but
conclude that Aloo’s mother is a truly admirable
character. I hope to be like her. I have learnt about
mother's love from the story.

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2. The following are the short story and drama studied in the literature component in English Language.
Short Stories - Tanjung Rhu by Minfong HO
- Leaving by M.G.Vassanji
Drama - The Right Thing to Do by Martyn Ford

Choose any one of the text above and answer the question below.
Everyone fears separation." With close reference to the text give reasons write on the theme of separation.

MODEL RESPONSE
Leaving by M.G. Vasasanji is the short sory I learnt. This story is about Aloo a young boy who wants
to pursue his studies in America. Aloo is the youngest child in a single-parent family. Aloo is a bright student
and he is inspired to go to America after his ex-teacher Mr Datoo talks so much about America. His mother
does not take him seriously until a well-known university, California Institute of Technology offers him a
place there with full scholarship. Seeing her son's determination, finally with heavy heart, Mother relents to
Aloo and allow him to go to America. There are many themes that is potrayed in the story. One of the
theme is fear of separation. Mother fears that as the children grow up they will leave the family home.
The first reason to be highlighted is Mother does not want to be separated from her children. Her
husband passed away when she was thirty-three. She becomes a single mother with five children at the age
of thirty three. This is shown in the story when she chooses to stay with her children rather than remarry and
loses them. She sold her shop after her daughter Razia was married. She wanted her sons the narrator and
Aloo to study hard. She moved from Uhuru, a noisy and busy palace to Upanga. She became a tailor in
Upanga. She hoped for the two youngest children, her flesh and blood to to excel in their studies. Upanga
was a quiet place, with wild land and tall trees was a perfect place for her sons to study. As we can clearly
see now Mother fears of being separated with her children because she always put her children first.
Next, Mother feels upset about being separated with her children. She feels sad when her children leave
her. She finds it difficult to let Aloo go to America. This is shown in the story when she told Aloo that she
cannot afford to send him to America. Three thousand shillings was a large amount of money. Aloo was
very upset. Aloo was the apple of her eyes. Seeing her son's disappointment, Mother sought advices from Mr
Velji. Mr Velji was very impressed when he learnt that Aloo got flying colour results in his examinations.
Mr Velji told Mother that going to America would be good for Aloo's future but added that she might lose
Aloo as he might not return to Upanga. She decided to let her son to go to America after listening to Mr
Velji advises. It is as clear as day that Mother fears separation but relents to Aloo's dreams.

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Lastly, Mother fears of the separation with Aloo. Mother asks Aloo to show her the prospectus of the
university. Aloo eagerly shows her the prospectus and tells her he can learn everything there. This is shown
in the story when she thought deeply about the offer Aloo received. Aloo was a very ambitious boy who
wanted a better life for himself. He did not want to venture into agriculture in the local university. He sought
for a better opportunity and was ecstatic to receive the scholarship to study in California Institute of
Technology. He hungered to learn more. Letting Aloo to go to America depicts her selflessness as she knew
he would be devastated is she refused him. . She feared of the unknown especially the Western countries
and people. Mother also feared that Aloo would pick up negatives habits. She sternly warned Aloo not to
marry with a white woman and stayed away from smoking and drinking. Even knowing that she might
never see him again, Mother decided to let him go to America. Now we can see that Mother fears the
separation because she might not see Aloo again.
In a nutshell, everyone fears separation. There are various reasons why Mother fears to be separated
from her children because she loves her children very much. Mother fears that as the children grow up they
will leave the family home.

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