Does my head look big in this gives an inside look into the modern challenges and pressures faced by muslims in the western world. The perspective of young muslim teenagers theme religion i would recommend this book if youre into a comingofage story about a young woman. In this essay, the assumption is that most teenagers probably have many similar experiences in their lives despite differences. Supported by her parents, amal spurns racial epithets like towel head and discovers her friends still accept her for who she is, not what she wears.
What inspired you to write does my head look big in this. Using literature to educate students about conflicts. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Like most girls her age she loves fashion, make up, and she worries about getting good grades. She has worked as a lawyer, human rights advocate and community volunteer with different human rights and migrant and refugee resource organisations. Amal is a 16yearold melbourne teen with all the usual obsessions about boys, chocolate and cosmo magazine. As the term progresses, amals friends face their own issues of selfworth while her faith is tested when she falls in love with a nonmuslim classmate. But being ready and living it are two different things, as i begin to discover the next day. The author executed this book perfectly as she combined modern dayteen with. She has decided to express her religious convictions and wear the hijab to school.
Covered from head to toe with only her eyes visible, the sight of a muslim woman on a western city street rarely fails to provoke a strong reaction. Group exercises these tasks involve the whole class through discussing. It paints a clear picture of the varied opinion between families ad generations about what it means to be a good muslim, and shows the differing options on what is culturally appropriate. Click to read more about does my head look big in this. Notes these teachers notes are designed to assist you and your class in investigating the issues and concerns contained in the novel. With an engaging narrator at the helm, abdelfattahs debut novel should open the eyes of many a reader. Amal is a year 11 student in her third term at a posh private school in melbourne. Sixteenyearold amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab fulltime and everyone has a reaction. I prays only on special occasion, on the other hand amal do prayer 5 times a day. But that was, indeed, where i came across it the other day. There are a million different voices in my head scaring me off. The beginning of discovering identity leads to the process of ones journey. Book trailer for the award winning book does my head look big in this by randa abdelfattah.
But being ready and living it are two different things, as i. Shes also a muslim, struggling to honour the islamic faith in a society that doesnt understand it. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. Winner in the australian book industry awards 2006 australian book of the year for older children. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. This causes concern on the part of her parents and her. They dont suddenly give in when theyve spent years taking out. Amal is a sixteenyearold australianpalestinianmuslim girl who lives with her parents in australia. For purely nostalgic reasons i just had to read it.
I feel empowered, and with a strange sense of calm. Does my head look big in this 2005, and morris gleitzmans girl underground 2004. Does my head look big in this click here for novel extracts. Characters for does my head look big in this flashcards. Drama by jeff gottesfeld and elizabeth wong based on the book by randa abdelfattah dramatic publishing company woodstock, illinois australia new zealand south africa. Drama by jeff gottesfeld and elizabeth wong based on the book by randa abdelfattah dramatic publishing company. The main point to this story is how amal deals with her new identity and how she grows into her own.
Randa abdelfattah is an attorney, a writer, a chocoholic, and an active member in the interfaith community, as well as the campaign for palestinian human rights. Below you will find links to the various reading activities associated with this book. Start studying characters for does my head look big in this. This was a random buy, picked up mostly because, flipping through it, the word tasmania caught my eye and then i read that the author is australian. Until now regarding the book we have now does my head look big in this. It became apparent to me that the only time muslim females appeared as heroines in books were as escapees of the taliban, victims of an honour killing, or subjects of the saudi royalty.
Novel awards winner of the australian industry book award for best australian book for. Amal was concerned about her appearance and what others thoughts. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novels does my head look big in this. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Excerpt from does my head look big in this when i was in elementary school, differentcolored socks were enough to get you teased. Refer to the novel does my head look big in this by randa abdel fattah, highlights a personal journey throughout the. Headstrong and witty, 16yearold amal, an australianmuslimpalestinian that m. Community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Randa abdelfattah author of does my head look big in this. We both know how to speak english, yet amal know how to speak arab and i know how to speak khmer. So when youre a nonporkeating, eidcelebrating mossie as in taunting nickname for muslim, not mosquito with an unpronounceable last name and a mother who picks you up from school wearing a hijab and gucci shades and drives a car with an islam means peace. Randa abdelfattah is the awardwinning author of 11 novels and is published in over 15 countries. Resources amal must wear modestly and i chose to wear modestly, however she wear hijab and i dont.
Does my head look big in this book trailer youtube. Can she handle the taunts of towel head, the prejudice of her classmates, and still. Then one day, while watching an episode of friends, the realisation suddenly hits her. The novel is about the trials and tribulations that a sixteenyear old, australianpalestinian girl named amal faces after she decides. Try wearing a veil on your head and practising the bums up position at lunchtime and you know youre in for a tough time at school. Luckily my friends support me, although theyve got a few troubles of their own. Based on feminist poststructural and postcolonial theories, the researcher analyzed the text on how each. Amal has a lot of hyphens to deal with shes an australian palestinian muslim, and to make matters more difficult, shes considering wearing the hijab full time in her outside life at her elite prep school.
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