The Kite Runner: Week 3, Post B

Dear Amir,

When I read about what happened to Hassan after the kite-fighting contest, I was shocked. It was completely unexpected, and my heart was breaking for poor little Hassan. I was so mad at you for not going and helping him while the older boys were hurting him. I couldn't believe that you didn't, after all he does for you. He has been nothing but a loyal, trustworthy, loving best friend-more like brother. And now, what do you do, but act like nothing happened and that you didn't see him getting hurt in the alley. You pretended to not be there. I was so frustrated with you. But, I think I can guess why you didn't go and stand up for him. It's just because you two are of different backgrounds and religions. But still, I don't understand this. He loves you as a brother, and you should love him as much as he loves you. In my opinion, you are so stubborn and full of pride that you can't even acknowledge that you even know him, let alone admit that he has been like your brother for the past twelve years. I wish that differences like the ones you two have didn't matter to anyone, that we could all accept each other for what we truly are. I think there would be less problems in all of the world if we accepted our differences. Think about it. It's the only reason for the United States and the Middle East being at war right now, and the only reason for there being disagreements among countries. Differences. I think that you could have and should have been a bigger person and stood up for Hassan because he is all you have. Everyone has the power to do things like that, but we don't because we are selfish and full of pride. I wish the world could change, but I know that's not realistic. 

Can't wait to keep reading your story.

Emma

The Kite Runner: Week 3, Post A

VOCAB: 1. wrought (53): embellished, elaborated, not rough or crude.

2. insomniac (75): someone who cannot sleep.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: 1. "little shapes formed behind my eyelids, like hands playing shadows on the wall" (74). This is a simile, because it uses the word "like" to compare two objects.

2. "phht-phht" (74). This is an onomatopeoia, because it isn't a real word. It's a sound or noise that is described with what it would look like if it was a real word.

QUOTE: "But this was my one chance to become someone who was looked at, not seen; listened to, not heard" (57). This quote shows just how much Amir wanted to become someone that people paid attention to and really admired. Also, he just wanted Baba to be proud of him for once in his life.

THEME: The theme of the book in this section was that you should always help someone, especially a close friend, when they are in need of help.

The Kite Runner: Week 2, Post B

SIGNIFICANCE OF A QUOTE

"But right then, I wished I could open my veins and drain his cursed blood from my body" (27). When I read this line, it surprised me. So far in the book, Amir has seemed like this sweet boy who really loves his father and his family very much. Then, this sentence comes along and you are thrown off. In that instant, Amir wanted nothing to do with his dad. He didn't want to be related to him (not having Baba's blood in him), he didn't want to look at him, and he certainly didn't want to talk to him anymore. However, in other times in the book, Amir has said things like he was really glad that Baba was his father, and like he was proud to have him as a father because of Baba's fame and fortune. I think that Amir is torn apart by this. He is somewhat selfish and doesn't want to lose Baba because of his fame, but he also very well knows that Baba doesn't love him very much and so he wants to be rid of Baba once and for all. In my opinion, I think I'd feel the same way. I'd also want to do everything I could to get in his favor and to make him proud of me and make him love me. It pains me to read the book because I have two parents who I know (most of the time) love and care about my very much and would never give me false support on something. They'd always be there if I needed them. It is heart-wrenching to read a story about a boy who is not very loved by his father, and his father doesn't even support him in doing something he loves: writing. This is horrible to me, but I really love this book and all it has been teaching me about Afghan culture. I can't wait to finish it!

The Kite Runner: Week 2, Post A

VOCAB: 1. rutted (46): a furrow or track in the ground, esp. one made by the passage of a vehicle or vehicles.

2. albeit (47): although, even if.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: 1. "except now, he was the ant and I was holding the magnifying glass" (47). This is a metaphor for how Amir was treating Hassan at that time. It is not literal, but it represents something.

2. "longing for winter already, greeted instead by the specter of yet another long school year" (44). This is a personification, because the "specter of more school" can't really greet someone. That is a human characteristic, being used as something an object does.

3. "words were secret doorway and I held all the keys" (26). This is a metaphor, because it represents how words were the only thing Amir had over Hassan, who couldn't read. It is not to be taken literally, just as a sort of symbol. 

QUOTE: "Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over" (49). This quote shows how much Amir wants his dad, Baba, to appreciate him and actually be proud of him, instead of Hassan. I have a feeling that there will be a lot more conflict coming up in the book between Hassan and Amir, fighting over who Baba likes more: his own son, or his servant boy.

THEME: The theme of the book at this point is that one should appreciate everything in one's life. Every part of it is important, and one should be lucky to have anything.  

The Kite Runner: Week 1, Post A

VOCAB: 1. quelled (8): to put down forcibly, quiet, suppress. 

2. melee (18): a confused, hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: 1. "my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day playing with Hassan" (22). This is a simile because it uses the word "like" to compare two unlike objects.

2. "my father was a force of nature, a towering Pashtun specimen" (11). This is a metaphor, because Baba is not really a force of nature, but it is a good metaphor describing Baba in more interesting terms than just a physical description.

3. "in the stampede like a rag doll" (18). This is a simile, because it uses the word "like" to compare two unlike objects. 

QUOTE: "'If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son'" (20). This quote represents exactly how Baba feels about his son, Amir. He is constantly worrying about Amir and how different he is from the other kids he plays with. He is not like Baba was when he was a kid, and this makes Baba worried about him. Baba doesn't realize how Amir just is interested in different things than Baba.

THEME: The theme of this book so far is how you can be completely different from your best friend, but that changes nothing about your relationship or your friendship.

The Kite Runner: Week 1, Post B

Dear Khaled Hosseini, 

So far, your book, "The Kite Runner", has been very good and I am really enjoying reading it. I love how in the first few chapters, you give the readers an idea of what the dynamics among characters are before you start telling us the plot. It gives us a really good base before we start finding out the plot and learning even more about the characters. This is a really good way to start a novel, in my opinion. Ever since I heard about your book and how culturally interesting it was, I've wanted to read it. I can tell from these first few chapters that I'm going to like it a lot. It should be really interesting to read, and I can't wait to find out what happens. 

My favorite part of the first few chapters was when Amir was reflecting on his friendship with Hassan. "But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either" (22). This gave me a really good sense of what the book might be about: religious, social, and ethnic conflicts between Hassan and Amir, two boys in Afghanistan who grew up together, who had always been friends and who couldn't live without each other. Still, Amir had problems getting over the fact that Hassan was Amir and Baba (Amir's famous and rich father)'s servant, and that Hassan was a Hazaran Shi'a. I like how they are still best friends after all of their differences listed and talked about in the first couple chapters. 

Patria's theme song

I chose patria as the sister to find a song for, because she inspires me the most. I love how sweet and kind she is to everyone and also how passionate she is about things like love, and her religion. The thing that struck me the most about Patria was how she had to "find herself". This is shown in her quote, "I put my hands up to the glass to remind her that she, too, must reach up for the things she didn't understand" (45). I read this and thought how hard she was working to try and figure out who she really was and what she stood for. The song I picked for Patria is "Closer to Fine" by The Indigo Girls. It's a song about a girl trying to really find our what is most important to her, and what she wants her life to be about. She does everything she can to figure it out, and in the end, she does. This is the same thing that happened to Patria. She wanted her life to be about Catholicism since she wanted to become a nun in the Inmaculada Concepcion school. The girl in the song also wanted to be about religion and God, but then I think she changed her mind, and just did whatever she wanted to do. This is pretty much the same story, so I thought that it fit Patria well. One part of the song goes, "I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains. There's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line. And the less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine." This part, the chorus, shows how many things the girl in the song tried to do to figure out her life, but then in the end, the way she "found herself" was not trying so hard and just being herself, living her life like normal. Once Patria just stressed out less about becoming a nun, she realized what she really wanted in life.