The first resource I chose was a specific article that details suicide and the main reasons behind a suicide attempt. In Londonstani, Arun committed suicide because of all the tension his family was giving him regarding his wedding. In this article, it states that half of all suicides occur because of depression or bipolar disorder. Arunʼs mother caused such huge tension for him when she was critical of Arunʼs future wife, Reena. This huge drama in his life, made him highly depressed, which resulted into his tragic suicide. This particular resource would help you to understand why Arun might have killed himself. It gives a lot of detail and insight into why people commit the act. With the information in this resource, the reader can make sense of an unfortunate circumstance in the novel.
Web address of resource 1: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?
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Another article which helps explain an issue of my novel would include the document that talks about teen wealth. The article that I received off eLibrary talks about how teens nowadays are richer than theyʼve ever been. This connects to Londonstani, because Jas and his crew worked together in a small business. They took cell phones and unlocked them from their current network, and sold these unlocked phones to customers. This article talks about how older teenagers, like the ones in my novel, work part time jobs to make big time money for their age group. In addition, they also mention how most of the money teens spend are for sources of entertainment; Jas and his boys used their extra cash on music, movies and girls. This resource could help a reader see that it is possible for young adults to make enough money to support their extravagant lives. If someone read Londonstani, and doubted how the young men could make money at such a young age, this article will clarify their apprehensions.
Web address of resource 2: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?
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The next resource which I found useful in comparison to my book was an article about race and culture and how the two differentiate from each other. The main theme that emerges from Londonstani is the race-culture issue. Throughout the novel, the main protagonist struggles with this concept in his everyday life. Although he is a Caucasian male, he feels like and accepts South Asian culture as his own. This articles talks about what race and culture really are and how the two are definitely not alike. After reading this article, I myself could understand the issue within Londonstani far more clearer than I understood it to be before. For a greater understanding of the main theme, I would recommend one to read this article because it gives more detail to explain how or why someone of a particular race may accept a culture contrary to their race.
Web address of resource 3: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?
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The final resource I used for my novel was an article regarding race relations and how individuals can improve these relationships in every community. I think this article links to my novel because thereʼs a huge issue with racism in the text. For example, in the very first chapter Hardjit was beating up a white male because he called him a “Paki.” In addition, there was huge racial tension when Jas fell in love with Samira because she was Muslim and he was not. I believe this article really helps with racism and how we could all eliminate racism with our own actions. Reading this article could help the reader to see how the many conflicts that arose in the book could be prevented. For instance, it states in the article that order to reduce discrimination in our society, we should “...refuse to use or tolerate degrading words or names...” Referring back to the fight Hardjit had with the Caucasian man, if the man would have learned from this quotation he might not have caused that argument. In conclusion, I believe this article would assist the reader in seeing how conflicts that are evident in the text, could be avoided.
Web address of resource 4: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=29&edition=&ts=8C6FD1DCA87070FE73BC98747C0D639C_1259269991275&start=26&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B173465349
