Kite Runner 5H-klt

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

The Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini 

• Afghan-American
• Born in Kabul, 1965
• Moved to USA, 1970
• Practices internal medicine
• His first novel 

The novel

• First Afghan novel to be written in English. 
• Over 9 million copies sold worldwide. 
• Translated into over 25 languages. 
• Is on the list of "Banned and Challenged Books" 
• Graphic details, sexual violence
• The film was banned in Afghanistan. 
• The child actors left Afghanistan for safety reasons. 

The Kite Runner

Time period 1960 - 2000

Setting: Afghanistan

words that come to mind
when you think of Afghanistan?

Afghanistan

• Landlocked (Pakistan, China, Iran, etc..)
•  Mountainous
• Modern country in 1960s and 1970s -> no headscarves, women went to school, art, music, fashion shows
• Always an interesting country in bigger conflicts for power between the West and the East (USA/England - Soviet Union)
• Soviet-Union supported coup d'etat
• Soviet Union attacked from the North and took over Kabul
• Afghan president that listened to the Russians
• Chaos in Afghanistan - Russia soldiers didn't know what they were doing there. Thought they were fighting against the USA. 
• Struggle for power in Afghanistan - Taliban won - Islamic republic -> 9/11 -> war in Afghanistan -> Bin Laden 

Important Background Information

Very mixed population: 

• 22 languages (Dari and Pashto officially recognized in consitutition)
• Sunni and Shia Muslims
• Racial conflicts
• The Kite Runner: Pashtuns and Hazaras - differences in religious beliefs, cultural practices, social status, physical appearance. Pashtun majority race and ethnic (Sunni Muslim), Hazara minority race (Shi'a Muslim). Hazaras were also discriminated against because of their looks. They are the weakest and poorest race in Afghanistan, easily subjected (onderworpen), insulted (beledigd), tortured (gemarteld) by Pashtuns.
• Kite Fighting is one of Afghanistan's national outdoor sports. 

The Kite Runner

the author

Khaled Hosseini

The Author

In Google Classroom, please fill in the Facebook page of the author so browse for him on the internet. 

The deadline for handing this in will be shared in 

your planner in Classroom 

https:

Any idea now what the title means?

the Kite Runner

Themes

Have a look at the 

anticipation questions

Read  through the questions

Discuss a few of the themes with your partner (I will tell you which ones)

Give me a rating of one to five and be able to tell me why

These too will be an assignment in Google classroom and this is important for you to get an idea of the themes that will be dealt with

This assignment will have to be done in Google Classroom as well and is important for you to get an idea of the themes of the book as we will be reassessing them after we've read the book

Please make sure that you have collected the book in the media centre by tomorrow if not done so already

Extra

If you have no clue of what 

was being shown 

about Afghanistan, here is a short video in Dutch!