60 pages 2 hours read

Kazuo Ishiguro

A Family Supper

Fiction | Short Story | YA | Published in 1983

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

“A Family Supper”

  • Genre: Fiction; contemporary short story
  • Originally Published: 1983
  • Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
  • Structure/Length: Approx. 9 pages
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: An unnamed, young male protagonist returns to his homeland, Japan, and struggles to communicate with his sister and father while they are all still grieving the recent loss of his mother.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Suicide; death of a parent; familicide

Kazuo Ishiguro, Author

  • Bio: Born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954; moved to Britain at age 5; began publishing short stories in small literary magazines; has written 8 novels and had work translated in over 50 languages; has had 2 novels adapted for film; received a knighthood in 2018 for Services to Literature
  • Other Works: An Artist of the Floating World (1986); The Remains of the Day (1989); When We Were Orphans (2000); Never Let Me Go (2005)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

  • Loss and Death
  • Gender Roles
  • Expectations Versus Reality

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

  • Gain an understanding of social and cultural contexts regarding familial conflict and traditional Japanese family structures.
  • Analyze the deeper meaning of the text through prompts and activities that connect to or address the text’s themes of Loss and Death, Gender Roles, and Expectations Versus Reality.

Related Titles

By Kazuo Ishiguro

Plot Summary

logo

An Artist of the Floating World

Kazuo Ishiguro

An Artist of the Floating World

Kazuo Ishiguro

Study Guide

logo

A Pale View of Hills

Kazuo Ishiguro

A Pale View of Hills

Kazuo Ishiguro

Study Guide

logo

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Study Guide

logo

The Buried Giant

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Buried Giant

Kazuo Ishiguro

Study Guide

logo

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

Plot Summary

logo

The Unconsoled

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Unconsoled

Kazuo Ishiguro

Study Guide

logo

When We Were Orphans

Kazuo Ishiguro

When We Were Orphans

Kazuo Ishiguro