Korb has a master's degree in English literature and creative writing and has written for a wide variety of educational publishers. In the following essay, she discusses the perception of time and the changes that the passage of time brings in "Half a Day."

"Half a Day," included in his 1989 collection of short fiction The False Dawn, is one of Naguib Mahfouz's final works. It was written toward the end of his long and successful writing career, which spanned much of the twentieth century. In his fiction, both novels and short stories, Mahfouz chronicled the significant political, social, and cultural changes Egypt had experienced during his lifetime, such as the rebellion against the British colonizers and the loosening of restrictions on women. Mahfouz's work often concerns itself with overarching moral and spiritual themes told through the experiences of very real people. His short stories differ from his...