Essay on A Temporary Matter
For this first journal, you will be reflecting on the short story “A Temporary Matter”. You need to read the story first and then write a two page response. Your response must be in correct MLA formatting which means it must have a proper heading, running head, title, 12 size font, Times New Roman, double spaced and 1-inch margins all around.
Do not include a works cited page for journal entries.
Assignment:
This weeks reading focuses on the secrets that married couples sometimes keep from each other even though they love one another. For your response, think about the last secret Shukumar shares with Shoba. What was the purpose of this and why did he share it? Write a response to those questions as well as what you think might happen next in their relationship. Be sure to include specifics from the story to help support your ideas.
The last secret Shukumar shares with Shoba is the fact that he was able to hold their baby in his hands before the baby was cremated. This was while Shoba was asleep, recovering from her operation, and all the while Shoba thought that neither of them knew the sex of the baby. After all, while she was still pregnant, Shoba asked the doctor not to tell them so that the baby’s sex would be a surprise to them when the baby would be born. Jhumpa Lahiri wrote, “Before the ultrasound she had asked the doctor not to tell her the sex of their child, and Shukumar had agreed. She had wanted it to be a surprise.” Tragically, she would have premature labor, a weakened placenta and it would be too late for the doctors to do anything except do a cesarean operation. “The baby had been born dead.”
