Assignment: Be The Change
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
1.) What do you think that Gandhi meant by this quote?
2.) What is something you have changed for the better about yourself?
3.) What is a change about yourself you would still like to make?
“All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
4.) Do you agree or disagree with the quote by Edmund Burke? Why or why not? Is there a relationship/connection between the quote by Ghandi and the quote by Burke?
5.) What is an“evil” in the world that needs to be changed? In other words, what is a change you would like to see in the world (e.g., here at SHS, here in California, here in the U.S., and beyond)?
How could you “be the change”? (try to be specific and realistic)
(share out with 5 people – take notes)
6.) What was the best “be the change” idea that you heard? Why?
Assignment: A Troubled Past
•Directions: Your group will become “experts” of an assigned topic that is related to the historical/cultural/political background that serves as the context for the story told by Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner. You will then present your findings to the rest of the class in a Google Presentation (no more than five minutes, please). Some things to keep in mind:
–Make sure to share your Google Presentation with me:
–Keep your layout / design clean and easy to follow. (e.g., don’t clutter slides with excessive text… Use short bullet points and engaging, but relevant visuals to help supplement information!)
–Focus your research on important, concrete, and interesting facts.
–Because this is a fairly “quick and dirty” research assignment, don’t get bogged down by too many details. This is meant to be a relatively quick web quest to provide all of us with an overview of the context of the novel.
–Parenthetically cite your sources (paraphrases and quotes)
•Group 1: Geography of Afghanistan
–Where is Afghanistan located? What countries border Afghanistan? What is the country’s population? Where is it concentrated—which cities? What is the country’s terrain and climate like?
–How has the country’s terrain and location been important to the history or development of the country?
•Group 2: Afghanistan Historical Timeline
–Create a timeline of Afghanistan’s history and politics, putting particular emphasis on the period between the 1970s and the present day.
–What are some of the country’s major historical events? What happened and why?
•Group 3: Afghanistan’s Ethnic Groups
–How many ethnic groups reside in Afghanistan? What are the dominant ones?
–Focus research on the Pashtuns and the Hazaras. What are their histories? Their relationship with each other? Their similarities/differences?
•Group 4: The Taliban
–Who are the Taliban? Where did they come from? What do they believe? What are they known for? When did they rule Afghanistan and how influential are they now?
•Group 5: Islam
–What is the history of Islam? What are some of the sacred texts? What are the major tenets or teachings of Islam? What are some of the divisions that exist in the religion? Pay extra attention to the Sunni and Shi’a and the similarities/differences between each.
•Group 6: Afghan Culture
–What are some of the major cultural customs and traditions? Celebrations? What is the role of women? Also research the tradition of “kite fighting”—what is it?
Assignment: Frenemies
A.)Amir
B.)Hassan
C.)Baba
D.)Assef
Complete a character analysis by generating a bulleted list of insights and observations about your character. Things to explore:
What are some of his personality traits?
What does he spend most of his time thinking/worrying about?
What seems to be his moral code or system of values (in other words, what does he seem to believe about right and wrong?)? What events/actions suggest this?
What is his relationship like with other central characters?
Support your claims with textual evidence.
Assignment: The Monster in the Lake
1.) In what ways does Amir fall short of Baba’s conception of a “real man”? Is it justified for Baba to feel this way, or is it unfair for a father to judge his child in this manner?
2.)Amir and Hassan are good friends, but, in the early chapters, Amir is always teasing or tricking him. Why is this? What point is Hosseini imparting here about human nature? About friendships? About how upbringing affects our perspective and values?
3.) The possibility of winning the tournament is so important to Amir that he writes: “All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption.” Why does he use those particular words? What does he mean when he also says that, “If there was a God, He’d guide the winds, let them blow for me so that , with a tug of my string, I’d cut loose my pain, my longing” (65)? What do you also make of Hosseini’s many references to “hands already bloodied” (63) by the kite string?
4) “And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last” (66). Why is this moment significant? Given what we know about Baba and his values, do you think this was truly the first time Baba has felt proud of Amir? Could it have been the only thing that would have made Baba proud?
5.) As Amir witnesses Assef’s act of brutality, he narrates: “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched. Paralyzed” (73). So, even though he was about to say something, he doesn’t. Why not? What factored into his decision? Do you even think it was an actual choice/decision on his part not to do something? In other words, how do you interpret that moment?
6.) Which of the following do you think is the worst thing that Amir does to Hassan: running away from the alley, ignoring Hassan and disassociating him in the months after Hassan’s attack, pelting Hassan with the pomegranates, or framing Hassan with the watch?
7.) How do Amir’s actions towards Hassan mirror the first work of fiction that Amir writes? What is Amir greedy for and how does this lead him to metaphorically “kill” Hassan?
8.) Why does Amir consider himself to be “the monster in the lake” rather than just a monster? What is the difference?
The Monster in the Lake 2: Godzilla vs. The Swamp Thing
On Monday, we are going to hold a series of “mini-debates” around this question:
Who is the biggest monster in the first nine chapters of the novel: Amir or Assef? Why?
Complete the following steps in order to prepare for this debate:
1.)Free-write your own initial response to this question in “The Monster in the Lake” assignment.
2.)You will be assigned a partner (or possibly two partners) who agrees with your perspective on this question. This will be your “debate team” for Monday’s activity (which I will describe more on Monday).
3.)With your partner, prepare a case for defending your position. This case should include:
A.) At least three main reasons why you believe either Assef or Amir is the biggest monster in chapters 1-9.
Support each reason with direct references to text – write down the quotes (and page numbers) you will refer to in your debate.
B.) At least three opposing views that the other side might use against you, and your refutation of each of those opposing views.
Support each refutation with direct references to text – write down the quotes (and page numbers) you will refer to in your debate.
page numbers of quotes you want to refer to.
Assignment: The Americans
1)What physical and character changes occur with Amir and Baba with the new American setting? How do their roles also change? Why does Amir have an easier time adapting than Baba? What does America represent for each character?
2) Why does Baba lose his temper with Mr. Nguyen? (127-129) What does the encounter reveal about Baba’s character? Do you think Baba is right when he claims that “No one trusts anybody” in America?
3) Amir writes, “I didn’t want to sacrifice for Baba anymore. The last time I had done that, I had damned myself” (135). Why does Amir say this? What is happening in this passage? Considering that Baba is sacrificing everything so that Amir can be in America, should Amir have respected his father’s wishes?Why or why not?
4.) In traditional Afghan culture, what is a man supposed to do if he wants to pursue a girl? (147) What do you think of these traditions? Is there any value to them, or are they inferior to the less regulated American approach?
5.) What does Amir mean when he says that there is an “Afghan double standard that favored my gender” (146)?
6.) Compare/Contrast Soraya to Amir. What are some parallels between their characters? How does Hosseini characterize her to give readers further insight into Amir’s character?
7.) Should Amir have told Soraya about his past after she revealed the details of hers? Why or why not?
8.) “It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can change the course of a whole lifetime” (142). Baba says this to Amir with respect to what incident? How might the quote apply to other significant moments in the novel?
9.) Perform a close reading of the following two passages. Put the words and images under a microscope. What do you notice about Amir’s (Hosseini’s) diction? Imagery? Figurative language? Syntax? Why did he make those stylistic choices?
•“Long before the Roussi arm marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools destroyed, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves, Kabul had become a city of ghosts for me. A city of harelipped ghosts.” (136).
•“America was different. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past, I could wade into the river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins” (136).
Assignment: The Circle of Life
- Create three critical thinking questions about chapter 13 of the novel. Make sure to really think about this – try to ask questions that are interesting and important.
Share your questions with your group. Choose two questions that you think are the most important or most interesting question from the entire group.
A Last Letter
Pretend that you are Baba, and that you are suffering from terminal cancer. Write a letter to your son, Amir.
Think carefully both about what you would say in this letter and how, as Baba, you might say it. Would you praise Amir, chastise him, or try to change him?
Assignment: A Long Lost Friend
Pretend that you are Hassan, and that you are writing a letter to Amir after all of these years. Currently, you are living in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban.
Think carefully both about what you would say in this letter and how, as Hassan, you might say it.
Would you be friendly towards Amir or hostile to him?
Would you ask him questions about the past, or would you say that the past no longer matters?
Would you ask for his help, or would you blame him for leaving you in a terrible situation?
Assignment: Revelation and Reactions
1.) In chapters 17 and 18, Amir discovers that Hassan is his half-brother. Do you think this fact—that Hassan and Amir are related—really matters? Does it make what Amir did to Hassan any worse? Why is it that being related by blood changes so much for Amir?
2.) Why does Rahim Khan say he is “absolutely certain” that it was Ali’s crippled leg that stepped on the landmine that killed him (206)? What does Khan mean when he asks “is there a more Afghan way of dying?”
3.) Chapters 16 and 17 provides readers with a flashback and parallel narrative to catch us up on Hassan’s life. Identify three key moments or episodes in this flashback that help give readers insight into Hassan’s character. What do these moments reveal?
4.) In Chapter 18, Amir finds out that both Hassan and his wife were shot by the Taliban trying to protect Baba’s house, orphaning their son. Rahim tells Amir it is his job to find Sohrab in Karteh-Seh, Afghanistan, and take him to an orphanage in Peshawar, Pakistan. Do you think Rahim's dying wish is fair or unfair? What is Amir’s initial reaction to the request? Do you think this reaction is sensible or cowardly?
5.) How does the cliché, "like father, like son" mentioned on page 226, relate to Baba and Amir?
6.) Why did Baba feel it was necessary to lie about Hassan’s identity? Based on what we see in the text, what do you infer to be the events that led up to Hassan’s conception and that happened afterwards in order to cover it up?
Afternoon in Afghanistan: A Talk Show
The Question: Should Baba be forgiven for hiding Hassan’s true identity?
- In the following talk show, Baba will explain why he felt it necessary to lie about Hassan’s identity.
- Other characters from the novel will give short statements revealing how they feel about Baba’s decisions.
- The audience will ask probing questions about the situation to Baba and to any of the other characters.
Characters:
Baba
Rahim Khan
Sanaubar (Hassan’s mother)
Ali
Hassan
Farzana (Hassan’s wife)
Amir
What do you think? Should Baba be forgiven for hiding Hassan’s true identity? In other words, should this revelation change our opinion of Baba’s character? Why or why not?
Assignment: Tali-banned
1.) Amir decides not to tell Soraya that he is going to Afghanistan. Do you think this was the right choice?
2.) What function does Farid’s character serve in the novel? What does he mean when he says that Amir “has always been a tourist” in Afghanistan? What does this comment reveal about his general opinions about emigrant Afghans who return to Afghanistan?
3.) According to Rahim Khan, why were the Taliban treated as heroes when they took over Kabul? Why does this attitude quickly change? (201)
4.) Why is Farzana struck by a young Talib? Why is it ironic that this action is performed in the name of the “Ministry of Vice and Virtue”? (216).
5.) What does Amir mean when he says that his artificial beard is “Sharia friendly – or at least the Taliban version of Sharia”? (230).
6.) Overall, how does Hosseini want us to feel about the Taliban? What moments/episodes help showcase this?
7.) What do you think of Zaman? Is he right to sell the children to the Taliban? Is what he is doing admirable or despicable? (257)
Holla for Malala
How does Malala Yousafzai exemplify Gandhi’s famous quote: “Be the change that you want to see in the world”?
The Media and Malala
By publicizing the story of Malala, the news media clearly demonstrated the continuing oppression of the Taliban, and inspired many people by spotlighting a heroic young girl.
On the other hand, the media also clearly put Malala’s life in danger by making her into an international icon; she was very nearly killed by the Taliban because they were upset by all of the media attention she was receiving.
- Given these facts, do you think it was right for the media to cover and spread her story the way that it did? Why or why not?
- Before Malala was shot by the Taliban, her father made the difficult decisions to stay in the Swat Valley, to keep his school open, to keep his daughter attending his school, and to urge his daughter to speak publicly about the situation that the girls were facing. Was he right to do this? Why or why not? If not, what should he have done?
Malala Maelstrom
What do you make of the backlash against Malala? Why would people feel this way? Does it seem justified? Do you think it will hinder or even prevent her from inspiring the changes that she wants to see happen?
Predatory politics and Malala
October 21, 2012 by Syed Irfan Ashraf
THE attack on Malala Yousufzai’s life was shocking for people around the world, but I see no reason to be surprised.
For the past three years I had had a premonition that this young, promising girl was unnecessarily being exposed to dreadful consequences. Yet I understood that the problem did not lie with Malala.
In fact, the civilian turf in Pakistan, especially in the north, has been turned into a site of resistance against militants. While in theory this is not a negative development, in the current politics of militancy, it is the ruling elite and the media that are benefiting. The nation as a whole is losing.
In February 2009, the rule of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the Swat valley was so entrenched that an early morning knock at somebody’s door would resonate with the macabre spectacle of the Taliban ‘arresting’ their opponents to slaughter them at a public square.