52 pages • 1 hour read
A Place at the Table
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Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Sara”
Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racial discrimination and antisemitism.
Sara hates cooking. She hides in a rear corner of a Maryland school family and consumer sciences classroom, where her mother now teaches the cooking club. She endeavors to remain unnoticed because she does not want to be associated with her mother. Sara is embarrassed that her mother, who has lived in the US for decades, still has a robust Pakistani accent. Her mother tries to gain control of the classroom, but the students—predominantly white—disrespect her by insinuating they cannot understand her and that she has nothing to teach them. The only person who does not participate in the bullying is Elizabeth. Elizabeth peers at Sara curiously, but Sara is not interested in making friends. Sara returns to her art project, using facial expressions to inform Elizabeth that she has no interest in friendship.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Elizabeth”
Elizabeth comes from an English family. Her mother does not cook unless necessary, and her brothers still make fun of her about a Stilton cheese scrambled eggs incident; therefore, she takes a cooking class to learn how to cook. She wants to take the class with her best friend, Maddy Montgomery. However, Maddy has a new best friend, Stephanie Tolleson, and brushes her aside. Maddy and Stephanie question why Mrs. Hameed cannot teach them how to cook American foods, but Elizabeth wants to focus on learning. Maddy also makes fun of Sara because she assumes Sara is similar to Mrs. Hameed.
Elizabeth corrects Maddy and attempts a conversation with Sara. They exchange a few sentences about cooking, but Sara’s coldness pushes Elizabeth away. When the tahari—a rice and potatoes dish they are cooking—finishes cooking, Elizabeth enjoys the textures and flavors while Maddy exaggerates disliking the spice. Elizabeth thanks Mrs. Hameed and leaves with Maddy and Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery assumes Mrs. Hameed is Arab rather than Pakistani.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Sara”
Sara wakes up the following morning and has cereal with milk for breakfast, rather than the egg meal her mother made. A disagreement about breakfast extends to a discussion about the lifestyles of Sara’s Pakistani elders and her first-generation American lifestyle. Sara asks why her mother watches the morning talk shows rather than study for her citizenship test. Mr. Hameed commands Sara to help Mrs. Hameed study for the exam.
Later that day, Sara uses Google Hangouts to call her best friend, Rabia, whom she has not seen for a while due to their conflicting schedules and attendance at different schools. Sara is nervous that their friendship will feel strained, but they joke as usual until Mrs. Hameed calls Sara to help with Mrs. Hameed’s catering business. Sara ladles food into takeout containers and apologizes to her mother for mentioning the citizenship exam. The two also discuss the cooking class, and Mrs. Hameed mentions she cannot afford to lose the class, though few students seemed to enjoy the food. Sara realizes her parents are having financial difficulties. She decides to befriend Elizabeth to help win the rest of the class over to Mrs. Hameed’s teaching.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Elizabeth”
Elizabeth wakes up the same morning and gets a bowl of Cheerios before her younger brother eats them all. Her mother reprimands her for not saying good morning but quickly forgives her. Elizabeth reflects on how life has been different since her grandmother died, and how her family did not tell her until after she returned from a theater summer camp she did not enjoy. She sits contentedly with her mom while her mom knits. Soon, she must get ready for school. She discovers that her mom did not do laundry over the weekend, and Elizabeth was too distracted by cooking tahari to notice. While her mom checks the laundry room, Aunt Louise calls and asks how Elizabeth’s mom is. When she tells her aunt that her mom is not coping well, Louise assures her that it is difficult to move forward after death.
After they hang up, Elizabeth goes to the laundry room, where her mom hands her a pair of her brother’s underwear and tells her that she can wear it or handwash a pair of hers. While Elizabeth goes upstairs to find a pair, she overhears her mom call Aunt Louise back and talk about potentially returning to England for good. Elizabeth is hurt because she hoped her mom would take and pass the US citizenship test, even though she had not seen her mom study in months. She puts on her brother’s underwear so she has time to find the study materials, and when she does, she places them next to her mom’s tea kettle. At school, she worries about everyone finding out she is wearing boy underwear. Maddy unknowingly gives her a solution to get out of gym class and lies to the nurse about getting her period to get a change of clothes.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Sara”
Sara struggles to find inspiration during art class. Although she loves art, she is not excited about the current assignment: to make a flyer for a local business. Sara asks the teacher, Mrs. Newman, if she can use the restroom. She drinks from the fountain and observes the flyers on the wall, hoping to find inspiration; instead, she finds the flyers uninspired.
While she examines the flyers, Elizabeth leaves the nurse’s office. Elizabeth asks if Sara knows what dish they will make on Friday during the cooking class; Sara says she does not know and asks why Elizabeth was in the nurse’s office. The two laugh about Elizabeth’s lie about her period to get out of gym class. When the bell rings and class ends, Maddy and another student—Micah—join Elizabeth in the hall. Maddy comments about Sara and her mother. Sara remembers all the times she’s faced comments from white individuals saying that America should be for people like them. Elizabeth tries to defend Sara and mentions her mother is not a citizen. However, she says they are not friends, and Sara walks away.
Sara works on her homework at home at the dining room table while her brothers play with Legos noisily. Her mom enters the area and sends the brothers to their room so Sara can work on her homework peacefully. Sara notices that her mom has mail, which her mom tries to hide. However, Sara sees the contents; the mail contains information about thousands of dollars they owe a bank. Mrs. Hameed finally admits that they took out a loan for the catering business. The loan was substantial enough that they could not afford to send Sara to private school this year, which is why she left her private school for public school. Sara asks how her parents will pay the loan back. Mrs. Hameed says they will figure it out and that Sara should focus on her homework.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Elizabeth”
On Thursday, Elizabeth eats lunch with Maddy and Micah. She explains why she is tired of chicken fingers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She looks forward to the following day’s cooking class and discusses the dishes she hopes Mrs. Hameed will teach them to make. Maddy states she is dropping out of the club because her parents do not like a non-American person teaching the club. She makes comments about immigrants, but makes an exception for Elizabeth’s mom, who comes from England. Since Maddy is leaving the cooking club, Elizabeth must now find a new partner to cook with.
Elizabeth sits at the back of the cooking club classroom, hoping no one will notice she is now alone. Mrs. Hameed takes attendance and notices three students do not return to class. She deflates but continues as Mrs. Kluckowski, the family and consumer sciences teacher, grades papers and voices her discontent. Sara sits next to Elizabeth and asks where Maddy is. Elizabeth does not answer, and when Mrs. Hameed observes Elizabeth has no partner, Sara volunteers as a favor.
Chapters 1-6 Analysis
The authors use a dual-perspective approach, in which they portray the narrative’s events through two characters’ points of view. The novel explores perspective and the importance of learning to see how others think. Organizing the narrative structure from multiple perspectives exemplifies the importance of stepping back and looking at the bigger picture.
The dual perspective affects narrative interpretation. For example, after Elizabeth and Sara fight because of the ice cream machine incident, Elizabeth hides in her room, while Sara faces school. Sara notices Elizabeth’s absence and feels envy. Her family would never allow her to stay home: “I should pick up the phone and call her, but the angry bubbles get in the way. I want to stay home too, pretend none of the last few months ever happened. But that’s never an option for the Hameeds” (268). Elizabeth sulks, believing that Sara does not want to see her. However, the dual perspective illustrates that this is not the case. Sara’s statement is much different from Elizabeth’s understanding.
Throughout the book, the authors use Elizabeth and Sara’s perspectives to show how assumptions and biases can lead to unnecessary miscommunication. Once Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan model how miscommunication creates conflict, they then model how to communicate effectively to accomplish goals and achieve dreams.
The authors use the book’s first two chapters to establish the characters’ initial positions. As the novel progresses, both Sara and Elizabeth will grow and change. Chapter 1, the audience’s first introduction to Sara, uses internal dialogue and exposition to illustrate her nature at this point in the novel. Her reflections show how she doesn’t want to be noticed: “I make a small pile of my things on the floor: backpack, sketchbook, a can of still-cold Coke. It’s not as if I’m trying to disappear, but I won’t exactly be upset if these junior chefs don’t notice me” (2). The narrative lists the several items Sara keeps with her to emphasize her desire to blend in with her peers.
Despite Sara’s claim that she does not want to disappear, the novel shows otherwise. She wants to return to Iqra Academy, where her friends share her cultural knowledge. She laments attending a public school with “a handful of brown people” (2-3). The racism she and her family regularly experience prompts her desire to blend into the background. She says: “I’m a master at ignoring people. You have to be when your parents get dirty looks at the mall and somebody shouts, ‘Go back home!’ a couple of times a year” (3).
Chapter 2 introduces the second protagonist, Elizabeth Shainmark. Elizabeth’s motivation throughout the novel stems from her desire to learn how to cook. She comments on her mother’s cooking: “Mom is a great believer in instant mashed potatoes, frozen dinners, and Hot Pockets. She does cook when Dad is home, but canned tuna, frozen peas, and mayonnaise tossed over noodles is not my idea of delicious” (11). Elizabeth loves experiencing Mrs. Hameed’s culture through food.
In Chapter 2, the authors show Elizabeth’s stance about standing up against bigotry. When her best friend, Maddy Montgomery, makes fun of Sara, Elizabeth stands up for Sara. However, she then questions herself: “I don’t know why I’m sticking up for Sara. Sara. Whatever. I don’t even know her” (15). This foreshadows how she will not defend Sara publicly later in the novel, jeopardizing their friendship. The authors show how Elizabeth is innately good, but that she still has some developing to do.
Through Elizabeth, the authors show the difference between public allyship versus private support. Through Elizabeth’s journey, they encourage public allyship rather than passive, private support.
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