60 pages • 2 hours read
A Family Supper
Fiction | Short Story | YA | Published in 1983
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Introduction
“A Family Supper”
- Genre: Fiction; contemporary short story
- Originally Published: 1983
- Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
- Structure/Length: Approx. 9 pages
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: An unnamed, young male protagonist returns to his homeland, Japan, and struggles to communicate with his sister and father while they are all still grieving the recent loss of his mother.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Suicide; death of a parent; familicide
Kazuo Ishiguro, Author
- Bio: Born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954; moved to Britain at age 5; began publishing short stories in small literary magazines; has written 8 novels and had work translated in over 50 languages; has had 2 novels adapted for film; received a knighthood in 2018 for Services to Literature
- Other Works: An Artist of the Floating World (1986); The Remains of the Day (1989); When We Were Orphans (2000); Never Let Me Go (2005)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Loss and Death
- Gender Roles
- Expectations Versus Reality
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Gain an understanding of social and cultural contexts regarding familial conflict and traditional Japanese family structures.
- Analyze the deeper meaning of the text through prompts and activities that connect to or address the text’s themes of Loss and Death, Gender Roles, and Expectations Versus Reality.
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