The thesis statement that I thought about for this short story is Sara’s positive thinking changes her family’s thought of the hopelessness of her in getting married. The title “Sara and the Wedding” has a connection to herself where it seems she is also getting married on the same day as her younger sister due to being attracted to Ramli and raped by him.
Although Sara was not in a young age, twenty-nine years old, fat where cellulite clung to her thighs, her waist, her belly and her buttocks, she still had a hope that she may one day get married like her sister. In the story, there is one part written “She knew that the silver of hope was too valuable to be discarded and she willed, almost desperately, herself to believe in it, utterly and implicitly. She assured herself that there was something out there waiting for her-something, maybe even somebody fine, noble and exciting.” (Pg 93)
As Sara was standing alone enjoying the night scene, Ramli appeared and was attracted to her. He was nasty enough, moving from touching Sara’s hands to the degree of raping her. Actually, Sara did not mind but allowed Ramli to rape her to prove that she was attractive despite of being condemned by her family and elder cousin that she had no hope of getting married. Her high self esteem made her achieve her dream to prove to her family her true desirability and power of somehow still could attract men.
Due to curiosity, I did some research on the internet during the holidays to find out the background of Ovid.
Ovid’s actual name was Publius Ovidius Naso. He was a Roman poet and was born into an equestrian family in Sulmo (now Sulmona), near Rome in 2oth March 43 B.C. and died on 17 A.D. He was Educated for the bar and became highly proficient in the art of rhetoric. However, he was skillful in the area of poetical and he devoted most of his time and energy to writing verse. After inheriting his father's property, Ovid went to Athens to complete his education. He later travelled in Asia and Sicily with his friend the poet Aemilus Macer.
By the age of 30, Ovid had been married three times and divorced twice. He probably also had a number of mistresses. The details of his affairs are recounted in the Amores, a series of poems telling of the stages of an affair with a woman named Corinna. His private life was that of a care-free, well-to-do, and somewhat licentious man of letters.
At Rome, where he resided until his 50th year, he was assiduously courted by the distinguished and fashionable society of the city, including Emperor Augustus. In ad 8, however, Ovid was banished to Tomis (now Constanţa, Romania). According to Ovid, one reason for his banishment was the publication of Ars amatoria, a poem on the art of making love which would have flown in the face of Augustus's attempted moral reforms. Since the poem had been in circulation for almost ten years it is probable that this was merely a pretext. A second reason, never disclosed by Ovid, may have been his knowledge of a scandal involving the emperor's daughter Julia. Ovid did not lose his citizenship and never gave up hope of repatriation, as revealed in the many poems written to his friends during his exile at Tomis, but his entreaties and those of his friends were futile. He died at Tomis, an honoured citizen of the town.
Amores ("The Loves"), five books, published in 16 BC, and revised to three books ca. AD 1.
Heroides ("The Heroines"), also known as Epistulae Heroidum ("Letters of Heroines"), 21 letters. Letters 1–5 published 5 BC; letters 16–21 were composed ca. AD 4–8.
Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love"), three books; first two books published 1 BC, the third book was published later.
Remedia Amoris ("The Cure for Love"), 1 book, published AD 1.
Fasti ("The Festivals"), 6 books extant, about the first semester of the year, about the Roman calendar. Finished by AD 8, possibly published posthumously.
Metamorphoses, ("Transformations"), 15 books published ca. AD 8.
In my point of view, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe is very similar to Romeo and Juliet. The story is about a love relationship between Pyramus and Thisbe. Due to the strong affections between the lovers, they died together by Pyramus killing himself first and next Thisbe killed herself. The story of Romeo and Juliet in the last scene reflects this sad ending as well between the two lovers.
A brief content of Pyramus and Thisbe is introduced. Pyramus and Thisbe were neighbours and they came to know one another. As their friendship begun, their love grew deeper. However, their parents forbade them from marriage. Meanwhile, nothing could stop the blazing love between the two lovers. One day, as Pyramus slipped out of his house and wanted to meet up with Thisbe at a shade of a tree, he found Thisbe’s veil under a tree was tore into shreds and stained with blood. He thought Thisbe was dead and was so upset until he killed himself with a sword which hung at his waist. In reality, Thisbe was still alive. When Thisbe knew that Pyramus was dead, she was very upset and used the same sword as Pyramus used to kill herself. Both of them lied dead under the tree. I see this as a sad story because the ending is death of two lovers. Meanwhile, it is also true love and the impact of love is so great until the lovers were willing to die together.
In class, Miss Dzeelfa assigned us to produce a dialogue in the form of a play about the last scene of the story where Pyramus killed himself for the love of Thisbe’s and Thisbe killing herself for the love of Pyramus. This activity was fun and interesting because it made us think creatively and working together as a group. Each group presented their dialogue creatively. For example, a group named themselves as China 5 used the Chinese slang and intonation to speak English. There was also some addition of Hokkien with English translation. It really made the class laugh.
I think play is a very useful activity to be used in a class. Besides being fun and interesting, students are able to think creatively, cooperate with one another in a group and train up their confident to act in front of the class.
Hello friends, thanks for the sweet memories...
No matter what, life is beautiful. There is always love, joy and hope in life. Once you fall,you can climb up again. You may bleed at first but it will heal. Smile always and face various challenges and experiences in life joyfully. Then, you will grow to become a better person.
