8.12.10

Today we answered two test questions. In the first lesson we prepared for them which I found really helpful because I'm not very good at planning the questions when it actually comes to the test because I rush, then I can't read it and then it's all a big waste of time. I also found it helpful because I'm really rubbish at conclusions and Connor's idea of redemption when we were planning gave me a conclusion, yaaay (I might have done it wrong and just messed it up but I can live in hope). Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS!!! My brain becomes a panicky lump of goo in my head and then whenever I try to say anything it comes out in blah until I finally get to what I meant to say in the first place and by that time its next week. Which brings me onto my next point, why I like the essay things. Sort of. I like them because you can scribble it out and start again if you're wrong, which is what I did a lot on mine. I'm just hoping I haven't scribbled out a bit that I would have needed. Also, circling out 50 words is hard.

24.11.10 and 26.11.10

ITS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24.11.10

Today we played this game where everyone described someone using questions like 'what season would ....be?' and then we did the same for the character of Hassan in The Kite Runner. We also looked at the poem 'You're' by Sylvia Plath and then used what we had each decided Hassan would be e.g. I chose that he would be the colour yellow, and we had to put it in a poem in the style of 'You're'. I'm not putting it on here because mine was super rubbish and a bit rambly and strange. I found this quite useful in exploring the character of Hassan, because it reminds me of hotseating, which we did last year in english (and also in drama) to explore the character of Eddie from 'AView From The Bridge'. I think it really helps my understanding of the novel if I can understand one of the main characters and explore what I think about them.

26.11.10

Today we looked at 'Definitions of Personality Disorder' which included the requirements for an antisocial personality, psychopathy, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality and sociopathy. There was a list that had these requirements on it, and we were asked to put a tick next to the ones that we thought were like Assef, like 'Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger', like when Assef beats up Amir when he comes to collect Sohrab, which would be in the category of borderline personality disorder.
I liked this activity, because it makes you realise just how much Hosseini put into creating an unstable character like Assef, because on the sheet there are 60 traits, and I  have ticked 45 of them that could be used to describe Assef.

I've written the quotes about how Assef is an evil character rather than blogging them.

19.11.10

Harry Potter came out today - it was awesome. Ron is not fat BTW, he's hench :P That links with what I'm about to say because Harry Potter is literature, and has some kite runner-y bits in like Harry has all those personal battles and stuff just not like Amir's coz Harry's a wizard and Amir is not. I'll shut up and get on with the blog now.

So, this lesson we did like a big poster thing that had the names of most of the characters on it and their personalities and the way they act towards people (e.g. Assef - Bully, evil, Hitler is his role model...) and then we also had the themes of the novel like guilt, and then the parts or people in the novel that fit with that, e.g. Amir's guilt over what happened to Hassan and how he didn't try to stop it.

I think this activity was really useful because it helped to have all the themes together and to read how other people see the characters in the novel and it was good to be able to see different ideas, because on some of the themes I wouldn't have really known what to say but now we did that activity I have a few more ideas.

17.11.10

This lesson we read through chapter 22, which is the chapter where Amir finds out that the guy at the execution was Assef, who is also the guy who has Sohrab, and so he has to try and get Sohrab from him, which ends in a fight and a gross part where Assef's eye gets slingshot-ed out by Sohrab.

Hosseini's storytelling in the end of this chapter includes mirroring from previous chapters, like how when Sohrab actually takes out Assef's eye; it mirrors how Hassan threatened to take out Assef's eye. It is also thte product of the foreshadowing in previous chapters, like the one eyed dog from the beginning of the novel. This feels like closure for the reader, because its like now Sohrab has hurt Assef, which is really what the reader has been waiting for since Assef's character was introduced- his come-uppance.

Quotations about Assef :

• 'tall Talib in white, still wearing his dark John Lennon glasses' - this is before you know he is Assef but after the execution so you know he is bd, but his physical appearance is described as you would describe a good character, e.g. an angel, with the white, and most people would associate John Lennon with good, not someone who would stage a public execution.
• 'Marks on his forearm, I'd seen those same tracks on homeless people...in San Francisco' - this gives you the impression that Assef is some sort of addict, which shows the hypocrisy, he's supposed to be purifying people when actually he isn't pure himself.
• He talks about the massacre of Hazaras as if its something he's proud of, and something that makes him good, 'virtuous, good, and decent' which sort of makes the reader wonder whether Assef is in his right mind.
• Assef refers to Sohrab as his boy, which shows that he feels that he has ownership over him. Hosseini then makes the reader feel uncomfortable as it describes how Assef innapropriately treats the child, 'his hands  slid down the child's back'.

12.11.10

I like how in chapter 19 you can see that Amir has tried to overcome his weaknesses, like his car sickness; he has recognised that it is a weakness and he is trying to overcome it. I also think that while doing this, he is showing that he is becoming more mature and dealing with his problems instead of shutting them out. Another sign of his maturity is where Farid offers him the lemon and he just takes it instead of arguing with him 'As an Afghan, I knew it was better to be miserable than rude'; it seems like Amir realises now how other people actually feel, different to how he was when he was younger with Hassan, where he would deliberately do things to annoy him or make him feel small, like poking fun at him because he couldn't read.

I also like it near the end of the chapter where its as if Amir is correcting what he did to Hassan and Ali when he put the watch under Hassan's mattress to frame him, because in this chapter he puts money under a mattress to help Farid and his family.

Yeah, its rambly, but I know what I'm getting at and eventually i'll write a blog that everyone else understands :D. Yeah that was a smiley face. :O

Chapter 17 - 10.11.10

Chapter 17 is an interesting chapter in the way that there are different voices; there are the letters from Hassan, Amir's narration and also Rahim Khan's direct speech when talking to Amir about how Hassan was executed.
When we were asked to write about voices in chapter 17 in 15 minutes I panicked a bit seens (not actually sure if thats a real word but its only a blog and if you can put a smiley face then you can put words that aren't real too) as I tend to ramble on about nothing for 15 minutes before actually getting into the question, e.g this blog. So you can imagine my shock when I actually managed to finish the question (haha except for conclusion, but I did actually finish what I wanted to say in the actual question so I'm still counting it as a victory) and I was even more shocked when I found out that some of the stuff I had written was actually right YAAY, like that part about Rahim Khan's bluntness possibly meaning that he has experienced so much violence that he isn't shocked when it happens anymore, even to someone close to him.

Circle of Narrative - 5.11.10

Today we were looking at how the circle of narrative in the Kite Runner is completed before the book is actually finished. I didn't realise this until we did about it in class, but I'm sure I'd have been a bit confused if I had, like, where is the book going? Except because I didn't realise that, I just carried on reading without thinking that. Anyway, the circle of narrative starts in December 2001 where Amir is remembering the 'winter of 1975' and the events that happened then, and also he is remembering a phone call that he had recently received from Rahim Khan telling him that 'there is a way to be good again'. By chapter 14, the reader has found out what happened in the winter of 1975 and important events up to June 2001, which is the time that chapter 14 is set in. It is in chapter 14 that the phone conversation between Amir and Rahim Khan occurs,about 'the way to be good again' thus completing the circle of narrative half way through the novel, meaning that there is still half the book to go which will be about something different, the 'different' being the way to be good again, through redemption. Sorry if this was really rambly. 

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 is mainly about Baba and Amir's relationship and it sort of shows how their roles have reversed a little bit since they have moved to America. I found it interesting talking about how Baba needs Afghanistan to remain powerful; I wouldn't have made that link if we hadn't talked about it in class. I understood that Baba wasn't as powerful in America as he was in Afghanistan but I think that I got into the book too much, and just read it for a book instead of reading it as something to be analysed.  

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 is the chapter we have been assigned to write about for the class essay that sort of turned into a homework. I found the lesson we spent trying to find quotes and stuff useful for writing the essay because it gave me ideas from other people when if I had just had to write the essay on my own at home I would have been totally clueless and winging it! Chapter 10 is the chapter where Amir is remembering how he and Baba got out of Afghanistan and the journey out. I think it is quite an important chapter because it shows Amir's frustration with how his father behaves, not just his admiration, like when Amir clamped 'a hand on his thigh' because his father was being a hero but in a situation where it could get him killed. Amir wants to be like his dad but not when it would put him in danger, which reflects on his reaction to what happened to Hassan.

15.10.10

Reading chapter 5 today I found it interesting looking at the links between Assef and Hitler. I had noticed that Assef was blue-eyed and blond, but I hadn't really thought much further into it except the initial 'oh yeah' moment, so I found it useful to find out that when Assef mentions how he wants Afghanistan to be pure Pashtun it is ironic and also links him to Hitler, because like Hitler (who wasn't purely German) he isn't pure Pashtun because his mother is German, so it is ironic that he wants the Hazara people not to be allowed to live in Afghanistan when really if what he wanted ever happened he wouldn't be allowed to live there either. 

08.10.10 and 13.10.10

08.10.10


Today we read through Chapter Two of The Kite Runner, and we were set a homework about hoe Hassan's character was represented in Chapter Two. I found this lesson really helpful because without going through Chapter Two and analysing it in class I would have missed loads of the important bits about Hassan that you sort of skim over and dismiss when you're reading it, like how when Amir is thinking of the memory of him and Hassan and Hassan is up the tree, and Amir is looking up at him, it shows that Hassan is admired by present day Amir and is seen as important in his early life.

13.10.10


Today we split into groups and analysed Chapter 3, looking for how Baba's character is represented. We made spider diagrams with points about Baba and then evidence to back them up, and then Mr Francis made a competition (TEAM A RULES! even though we don't rule that much because we lost but oh well) between the two groups by asking for evidence that Baba was, for example, powerful, and then whichever group said the quote first got a point. I found this a useful exercise because it gave me more ideas for the essay about Baba, and also helped me to think of quotes to back my points up with, because sometimes I think of a point and then don't have any evidence to back it up with because its either too obscure or I can't think of the right piece of text.

01.10.10

Today we learnt about direct and indirect speech. I found it interesting when we were looking at the extract from Enduring Love where there was indirect speech because it felt like direct speech, like it felt like the author was talking to you, or like you had a little view into his thoughts.

Pashtun and Hazara

Pashtun people form just over half the population of Afghanistan and are said to be concentrated more in the east and the south but after they gained control over the rest of the country in the 19th century there are also Pashtun's living in the rest of Afghanistan too. The Soviet invasion of December 1979 has been the major determining factor in Afghanistan's ethnic relations since that point in time. From that time until mid-1991 the various factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, all dominated by Pashtuns, controlled the country's government.

The Hazaras settled in Afghanistan at least as far back as the 13th century and have always lived on the edge of economic survival. As a result of Pashtun expansionism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Hazaras were driven to the barren, dry mountains of central Afghanistan (the Hazarajat) where they live today separated into nine regions. Many Hazaras also migrated to major towns, like Kabul, where they struggled with economic deprivation.

In The Kite Runner it is clear that the Hazara are seen as lower compared to Pashtun's because Ali and his son Hassan are employed by Baba and Amir to work in their home.

24/09/10 - Chronological Topography

I liked the extract of Digging To America and how from the first line it could have been any evening in any time, but then when you read deeper and think about it more you understand that it has to be from around the era that we are living in now, like after the 80's. It was interesting, as if we were following clues to try and work out exactly what period of time the writing was referring to.
I also liked the extract from Birdsong, where it said '1948 - Before'. I like how it makes you wonder what happened after 1948, and also how the word 'before' draws you in; the single word makes you feel like whatever happened is very significant, like there would be too many words to put after before to make sense, so they just left it as 'before' and then started the story.

The Piece of Paper and 17.09.10

5 ways that the piece of paper could have significance :

1. It could be suicide note, left behind by someone who has now disappeared, and the person who found the paper has to race against time to find this person and stop them.
2. It could be a love letter written to the person that found the paper; they both had a secret love for each other but never admitted it but now she has moved away and he has to find a way to tell her how he feels.
3. A doctors letter, like results - A wife has just opened her seriously ill husbands doctors note, telling him that his illness is terminal and now she is determined not to ruin his final months of life and to enjoy the time they have left together.
4. Evidence - there is a piece of hair accidentally wrapped up inside the screwed up piece of paper that is the only piece of DNA the police can find to trace a serial killer.
5. It could be a password, but the finder doesn't know what the password is for but still believes it to be important and goes on like a mission to find what the password is for.   

I found the part of the lesson where we learned about suspension of disbelief quite interesting, because it made me think that people are willing to suspend their disbelief whatever book they are reading, even if it is fiction. There's always a part of me when I read something like Harry Potter, or just any fiction book, that makes me think 'Oh wow that could actually happen' but then you have to sort of tell yourself it couldn't and then you're really gutted e.g. like when I found out that the translator's note on Memoirs of A Geisha isn't real. The thing is, is that even when you know it's not real you're still willing to tell yourself it is. It also made me think that people are willing to use suspension of disbelief on other things, as well as book, like newspaper articles, or even t.v. Certain 'reality' t.v programmes like 'The Hills' or 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' are quite clearly not complete reality, like parts have got to be staged, but I am willing to put that to the back of my mind and be completely naive and think that these people's lives are really as glamorous as they are portrayed to be. It's the same with films, everyone's heard crazy stories about 'Twi-hards' biting people or something, and its like people lose their grip on what is real because of what they would rather believe to be true. 

Gossip, another time when you are willing to suspend your disbelief - it could be something really stupid like someone has 12 toes, and you'll believe it because of the way someone is saying it, just like the way the translator's not was written in Memoirs of a Geisha.