{"id":3333,"date":"2006-05-03T17:12:24","date_gmt":"2006-05-03T22:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=3333"},"modified":"2006-05-03T16:30:13","modified_gmt":"2006-05-03T21:30:13","slug":"the_structure_o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2006\/05\/03\/the_structure_o\/","title":{"rendered":"The structure of a classical tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I. Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

‘I’ve never read a novel with an Indian-American protagonist.’<\/font>

— Kaavya Viswanathan, April 26, 2006 [Link<\/a>]<\/center><\/p>\n\n

II. Conflict<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Born Confused<\/em><\/a> <\/em>by Tanuja Desai Hidier<\/a>, a teen novel with an Indian-American protagonist<\/p>\n

[via Harvard Independent<\/em><\/a>; thanks, Rekha<\/a>]<\/p><\/td>\n

Opal Mehta<\/em><\/td><\/tr>\n
\n

All day the house had smelled of spices<\/strong><\/span>, and now before our eyes lay the resulting combustion<\/strong><\/span> of all that kitchen chemistry. The feast my mother had conjured up was extravagant<\/strong><\/span>, and I realized how hungry I was; I wasn’t a big fan of Indian food, at least not on a daily basis, but today<\/strong><\/span> the sight of it was pure poetry. <\/p>\n

Brown sugar roti and cloud-puff puris<\/strong><\/span> just itching to be popped. Coconut rice fluffed up over the silver pot like a sweet-smelling pillow. Samosas transparent, peas bundling just below the surface. Spinach with nymph-finger cloves of garlic that sank like butter on the tongue<\/span>. A vat of cucumber raita<\/span><\/strong>, the two-percent yogurt thickened with sour cream (which my mom added when we had guests, though she denied it when asked; I’d seen the empty carton, not a kitten lick left). And the centerpiece: a deep serving dish of lamb curry, the pieces melting tenderly off the bone<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><\/td>\n

… the house had smelled of spices all day<\/strong><\/span>, and when we sat down at the dining room table, I nearly combusted<\/strong><\/span> at the sight of the<\/strong> extravagant feast my mom had conjured up<\/strong><\/span>. Usually I wasn’t a big fan of Indian food, but today<\/strong><\/span> I was suddenly starving.

The table creaked with the weight of crisp, brown rotis and feather-light, puffy puris<\/strong><\/span>. <\/strong>A basket of my favorite kheema naan sat beside the clouds of cashew and sultana-studded coconut rice in an enormous pot. There was plump okra fried in oil and garlic till it melted like butter on the tongue<\/strong><\/span>, aloo curry studded with peppercorns and glistening chopped chilis, and a crock of raita<\/strong><\/span>, a cool, delicious mixture of yogurt and sour cream, bursting with finely chopped onions and cucumbers. The centerpiece was a deep dish of mutton curry<\/strong><\/span>, the meat (my mom only used halal bought from an Arab butcher in Edison) already falling off the bone<\/strong><\/span>. \n
<\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table>\n\n


\n\n
III. Climax<\/strong>

<\/p>\n\n

‘I really thought the words were my own. I guess it’s just been in my head… I feel as confused as anyone about it, because it happened so many times.’ [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

On national TV<\/a> last week (thanks, BEAH<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n

‘All I can tell is the truth.’<\/blockquote>\n\n

IV. Resolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A Harvard University student’s “chick lit” novel has been permanently withdrawn and her two-book deal canceled, publisher Little, Brown and Company announced Tuesday… “Little, Brown and Company will not be publishing a revised edition of How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life<\/em> by Kaavya Viswanathan, nor will we publish the second book under contract…” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

Related posts:<\/span> KaavyaGate reloaded<\/span><\/a>, Innocent, Until Proven Otherwise<\/a>, How Kaavya Viswanathan got rich, got caught, and got ruined<\/a>, Buzzword bingo<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I. Introduction ‘I’ve never read a novel with an Indian-American protagonist.’ — Kaavya Viswanathan, April 26, 2006 [Link] II. Conflict Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier, a teen novel with an Indian-American protagonist [via Harvard Independent; thanks, Rekha] Opal Mehta … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3333"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}