Pictures of the Mexican Indians

To those students who are answering The Pearl for the novel, here are some pictures that may help you to have some ideas about the Mexican Indians - the poor and the rich.

The Fruitcake Special

My review;

When I first read this short story, I could not help laughing. A perfume can have such a great impact on someone.This story reminds me of some kind of oil used by the traditional Shaman in Malaysia to cast a spell on someone so that he or she will fall in love with the one who casts the spell.(I am not sure whether it is still in practice in modern time.However,this practice is definitely forbidden in Islam and by many religions.)

Well, I can't help but admire Anna who works as a chemist at Amos Cosmetics.As she was making an experiment, she adds a bit of the fruitcake which her Aunt Emma gave into her mixture of perfume. She then tests the perfume on herself.The consequence of her action causes her a serious problem. Her boss,Mr Amos who smells the scent of the perfume on her suddenly finds her exceptionally beautiful.
Anna however does not believe him. She is a confident person who knows her real self. There is no way a flamboyant like Mr Amos will like a plain girl like her.

When Mr Amos asks her out,she has no choice but to go because he is her boss.When she sprays on some Amos perfume, Mr Amos seems want to shun away from her and is embarrassed to be seen with her.On the other hand, when she puts on her fruitcake special,she is surprised by a sudden attention and love declaration from her boss and a waiter at the restaurant where she and her boss are having dinner. She realises then,that her boss's wierd reaction towards her is all due to the fruitcake perfume she made.A fight between her boss and the waiter over her occured right in front of her boss's girlfriend.

So when Mr Amos and his dead gorgeous girlfriend mock her two days after the incidence at the restaurant, she sprinkles all the fruitcake special on the girl's dress. She wants them to experience what she has gone through.She imagines how many men will fall madly in love with her boss's girlfriend because of the fruitcake special.All these men will give troubles to her wicked boss and his girlfriend.

Finally, she finds her love right under her nose. It is a young delivery boy who has fallen in love with her for so long but can only express his feeling after he is successful to own a pizza shop.

QWERTYUIOP By Vivien Alcock

Synopsis

This story is about a seventeen - year - old girl called Lucy Beck,who had just received a diploma from a secretarial college. With the diploma, she hoped to secure a job as a secretary. Her principal,Mrs Price however did not have much confidence in her because she was small, she looked timid and could only type at a slow speed.

Lucy too was not very confident in her own self. She feared that she would not get a job. So, getting a job at the first interview she went was really a blessing. On her first day, she was surprised by a spirit of the former secretary, Miss Broome. The spirit communicated with her using the electronic typewriter. At first, she was horrified and frightened. Yet when she thought about the many luxurious things she could buy with her salary as a secretary, she became determine to fight the spirit.

She discovered from Harry Darke, an old man who worked at the firm that Miss Broome was a lonely woman who dedicated her life to her job as secretary. She was asked to leave by the late Mr Bannister after working for 43 years. She was reluctant as the office was like her home and she had no family. Even in her death, she was adamant to keep her job and frightened off many young girls who wanted to take her job.

Finally, Lucy was able to persuade the spirit of Miss Bloome to leave the job to her. She told her that Mr Bannister had passed away and he desperately needed her to take care of him in the new world. Lucy related to Miss Bloome that she was told to leave because Mr Bannister was worried about her health.

Moral values/Lessons


One should not be prejudiced towards others.

Example 1:The Spirit of Miss Bloome, for example was looked down by others before Lucy. She may be a spirit but she was a lonely spirit .By understanding her loneliness, Lucy succeeded to tell her to serve Mr Bannister who had also passed away and needed her.

Example 2: Lucy was also a victim of prejudice. Being young, small and shy, her principal and even Harry Darke thought that she was a coward. Yet she proved to herself and others that she was a brave person who would not submit to the wish of a lonely spirit.