The Kite Runner ch 1-2

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Update

• Grading SE-1 is in progress
• Planning stays the same (see classroom)
• Online lessons -> always bring earphones, have cameras on, be quiet unless you have been asked to talk, do the required work and answer when I ask you to :)  
• Nothing to worry about, you read and prepare The Kite Runner or any other task that I set, I prepare good lessons, you take part and you will be more than fine. 
• If you don't, you won't be and that is your own responsbility.
• Always ask any questions that you might have.
• Failure to meet my expectations = absent.

SE-2

Oral exam (25 minutes in total)

- 10 minutes: conversation skills (x1)

- 15 minutes: The Kite Runner (x2)=

CITO Listening x2

x2

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, homosexuality. 
• The film was banned in Afghanistan. 
• The child actors left Afghanistan for safety reasons. 

The Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini 

-> Afghan-American

Why? Officially a requirement for your HAVO diploma.

Why a requirement? 

• Pleasure (one of the most beautiful books I have ever read and one of the few that made me cry)
• Joy of entering a different world, life -> escapism
• Being able to experience things you might otherwise never experience
• Universal lessons
• Identifying with people in the novel  

What do we study?

The author's message (de boodschap)

The author's style (de stijl van de auteur, de keuzes die hij maakt tov:)

Title

Setting (tijd, plaats)

Perspective (perspectief)

Characterisation (personages en hoe ze veranderen)

Themes (thema's), Symbols (symbolen), Motifs (motieven)

Plot (verhaallijn)

Conflict (het probleem)

Diction (taalgebruik)

Rubric

• Understanding of the novel and plot : 0-4 points
• Characterization (knowledge and understanding of characters, changes, relationships): 0-4 points
• Analysis of themes: 0 - 4 points
• Author's style (writing style, setting, perspective, symbols, motifs, message, context): 0 -4 points

Always support your answers with examples. 

0 points for every part of the rubric if it is clear that you haven't read. And it will be clear, trust me. 

Afghanistan
- what do you know about it?

Important Background Information

Very heterogeneous population: 

• 22 languages (Dari and Pashto officially recognized in consitution)
• Many different ethnicities
• 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 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. 

Let's start our discussion of chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

1. What kind of narrative perspective* is this story told from? What do we have to keep in mind when we read a story from that perspective? 

*Verhalend perspectief

First person singular - I, me, mine, we, us, ours

Second person - you, your, yours

Third person - he, she, it, they, his, hers, theirs

2. What is this story going to be about? Write down three clues* for that from this chapter.  

*Aanwijzingen 

3. What is the effect of this first chapter on the reader? 

Setting

Chapter 2

• What in the language and claims Amir uses and makes, makes us realise that he and Hassan were good friends? Write down several quotes. 
• How would you describe Hassan, based on Amir’s description? 
• What is the relationship between Amir and Hassan like? 
• How is Amir characterised? (what do we find out about him?)
• How has the author characterised Ali? (what do we find out about him?)
• Writ down everything that describes Amir and Hassan’s houses in chapter 2 and draw conclusions about what kind of families they are from and what kinds of lives they live. 
• What are your expectations based on the quote "And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 - and all that followed - was already laid in those first words."
• What are your expectations based on this chapter?

The Kite Runner ch 1-2

Any questions that you have for me or each other? Anything that is unclear?