Half A Day

BY: NAGUIB MAHFOUZ

Do you remember your first day at school when you

were in Kindergarten or in Grade 1?

What about how you felt your first day of

middle school?

Or high school?

Write down how you felt about

your first days of school.

Write about a time in your life when you wish you had more

time.

Think about how you manage your time or

how you felt when someone close to

you died.

Vocabulary

Tarboosh - a tasseled cap of cloth or felt, usually red, that is worn by Muslim men either by itself or as the inner part of the turban.

Unmarred = mar - to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil (unmarred would mean the opposite)

Exertion - vigorous action or effort

Throngs - a multitude of people crowded or assembled together; crowd

Vocabulary

Hordes – a large group, multitude, number, etc. a mass or crowd

Conjurers - a person who conjures spirits or practices magic; magician.

Abu Khoda – is an actual street in Cairo located near an elementary school.

What can we learn from the short story?

This short story reflects on how fast and quick time passes. Yesterday we were little children, today we are teenagers and tomorrow we will be old people. Nowadays, the hours of a day seem to be moving too fast and we do not even notice. Most of us wish for hours to be shorter but when the day passes we wish for longer hours.

What can we learn from the short story?

We are not grateful and appreciative for the minutes we are given everyday. We are lucky that we are given time to do things and be better because for some people, they don’t have enough time. We want to grow up already and be adults. But when we do reach adulthood, we long for our childhood days.

Intensive reading index card for “Half a day” by Naguib Mahfouz

Divide your index card into three sections by folding it like a brochure. You can title the front side “Summary Sentences.”

Then label each column, leaving room to write a ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY for each section of the text.

Paragraphs 1-7

Paragraphs 8-16 Paragraphs 17-20

Intensive Reading Index Card for “Half a Day” by Naguib Mahfouz

After you have written your summary sentences and confirm with a partner, write notes on the back of your card regarding these three topics:List the lessons the father gives to the son.

Use adjectives to describe Mahfouz’s school life.

Describe feelings or emotions the narrator experiences in response to the changes of the world.

Walkabout: An Australian Aboriginal Rite of Passage

Walkabout refers to a rite of passage during which male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months.

In this practice they would trace the paths that their ancestors took, and imitate, in a fashion, their heroic deeds.

Reflect in your writer’s notebook:

What ‘rite of passage’ took you from childhood to adolescence?

At what point in your life will you consider yourself an adult? Why?

Be prepared to share.

Closing: reflect in your writer’s notebook

Think about the following quote:

“Great works never fail to reveal the common human experience.”

How does Mahfouz’s work reveal this?

Remember to consider archetypes and the universal unconscious.