Reflections

Forrest's Reflection

For our “Book Group” project, my group chose to read The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. The book is about an Afghani boy who grows up and is deeply affected by his own perceived cowardice and his betrayal of his friend. I thought The Kite Runner was a deep and gripping novel, and I feel I chose my book well.

I normally don’t like group work, but this assignment seemed to be an exception to the general trend. My partners were hard working and we completed our assignments on time and with good quality. I think that I should, instead of resigning myself to a dislike of teamwork, be more optimistic—as I was when working with this group. Another factor that helped our teamwork is that we all chose to work on this project together, and thus there was little friction between group members.

As for the book, I loved it. The book was a page-turner; it sucked me in and I couldn’t escape until I had read it all. I think that the entire group felt like this, because even the members who don’t normally read finished the book in record time. Khaled Hosseini paints an impassioned picture of pre- and post-war Afghanistan, and his depiction causes the reader to sympathize and feel for the main and side characters.

The different assignments were my main and only complaint about the overall project. Some of them lead to either an argument or a stark division of labor that violated the spirit of the task. For instance, after our initial presentation, my group had to re-write most of the rationales because we had written them separately, as individuals. If we had worked together on everything from the start, we could have saved time and effort. Also, I personally disliked some of the assignments. For instance, making montages has no point. Sure, they’re pretty and the class enjoys them, but they serve no purpose in furthering our or the audience’s understanding of the book. Another assignment that I disliked was the graph. I don’t think that the graph assignment makes any sense at all. A timeline would have been much more effective. I think that If I were to redo the assignment, I would remove the montage entirely and make a game mandatory while replacing the graph with a timeline to go with the plot summary.

Graph Rational

Our graph, Amir's Self Worth, reflects the emotional and character changes throughout the novel as Amir matures from a young innocent child to an honorable man. For starters, our group decided to create a graph around Amir's self worth as we felt it as a major aspect addressed throughout the novel. The way Amir sees himself throughout the novel reflects his actions he makes during that time making this subject a great topic to use to discuss how Amir impacted himself and those around him during his life. In addition, teh events chosen for teh graph were the most important events that impacted Amir during his life journey. These events caused dramatic changes in Amir's personality, thus causing dramatic shifts in the ways he acts and the decisions he makes. Also, our graph reflects the different events which cause Amir to gain or lose self worth through points connected my various lines. When looking at the graph one can easily tell the dramatic impact certain evenst had on Amir and how specfic decisions caused drastic changes in how Amir viewed himself. Furthermore, the labeling on the x axis was chosen to reflect the time period in which the different events which influenced Amir's life occured. By showing which time period different evnts occured, a viewere is abel to see when Amir was at his weakest point and when he began to mature and grow stronger both in his self worth and in his pride. Lastly, the labeling on teh y axis helps to identify the amount of self worth Amir allows himself to have at different evnts in his life. The labeling on the y axis was chosen because it accurately reflects the way Amir views himself at different times, thus reflecting the entire plot line of teh story. Over all our graph presents the changes in Amir along with the important events of the novel in a unique and easy to understand way.

Board Game Rules

Setup
1. Shuffle the cards and place them on their respective colors.
2. Each player chooses a kite player piece.
3. Roll the four-sided die to see who goes first.

Gameplay
1. On each player turn, the player whose turn it is roll the die and moves that many spaces.
2. When a player lands on a color, the person to his/her left draws a card of that color and reads the question out loud.
3. The player whose turn it is has one minute to answer the question. If the player answers correctly, he/she keeps the card for the remainder of the game.
4. If a player lands on a black space, then he/she must do as the card says.

Finishing the Game
1. When a player goes all the way around the game board and reaches the purple square, then he/she is done. Total the amount of points gained by counting up cards:

True/False - 1
Multiple Choice - 2
Name that Character - 3
Who said that? - 4

2. In the case of a tie, the tied players each choose a color. They must answer a question from that pile and if they are correct, they gain the number of points associated with that card.

Extra Rules
1. On his/her turn, instead of normal movement, a player may choose to make a power play. That player rolls a die and moves that number of squares. Then the player must answer that many questions of the color he/she landed on. If all were answered correctly, then he/she takes all the cards. If the player misses even one, then all the cards were lost
2. Alternate Game Types
Speed Game: Limit the amount of time to answer questions to 30 seconds each.
Power Play: Every movement roll is a power play (see above).

Game Rational
My group and I decided to create a board game for part of our book project associated with The Kite Runner in order to address the important aspects of the plot and relationships between characters. We created the “True/False” section so that players of the game can be tested on significant information such as relationships that effect characters throughout the plot line and events that cause character changes. By answering these questions reader will be able to quiz themselves on the main character changes which provided climaxes in the story. In addition, we made twenty “multiple choice questions” in order to test the reader on facts that were mentioned in the book that were a key role in the Afghanistan culture. The culture aspects in the novel present the reader with a taste of the Afghan culture which plays a major role in the setting of Amir’s journey. Furthermore, the game consists of twenty “who said questions” which tests the reader on significant quotes scatter throughout the novel which reflect different themes and attitudes of the main and minor characters. Important quotations make define an author’s style of writing, thus making them an important portion of the novel. Lastly, we created a stack of which “character questions” to quiz the reader on important actions of different characters that overall effect Amir's journey presented in the novel. The actions of minor characters highly effected Amir’s journey and thus make it an vital aspect that should be focused on in the game. In conclusion the game presents a fun and exciting way for readers of The Kite Runner to quiz each other on important themes, characters, and actions that created an interesting and eye opening plot.

Montage

Rationale

A theme of a life’s journey is presented in both The Kite Runner and in the montage. For example, The Kite Runner follows the journey of a young Afghan boy, Amir, whose decisions effect his growth into a Afghan man. The montage portrays Amir’s life journey by showing coming of age clips and using words for the Afghan culture that represents a young boy’s journey into a man. In addition, the novel puts a lot of emphasize on the relationships Amir creates with his “friend” Hassan and his father Baba. The montage reveals these relationships through various scenes of interaction between two Afghan boys and a father and son. Furthermore, the novel produces a theme of one’s life journey through the author’s unique form of writing, in which he puts much detail into the characters setting. The montage created uses relaxing music to create the childhood feel which is the main setting throughout the book. Through inspiring clips, calming music, and a hint of Afghan culture, our montage presents the life journey of Amir’s revealed in The Kite Runner.

Poem that repsents the Kite Runner

I Find No Peace - Sir Thomas Wyatt

I find no peace, and all my war is done.

I fear and hope. I burn and freeze like ice.

I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;

And nought I have, and all the world I season.

That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison

And holdeth me not--yet can I scape no wise--

Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,

And yet of death it giveth me occasion.

Without eyen I see, and without tongue I plain.

I desire to perish, and yet I ask health.

I love another, and thus I hate myself.

I feed me in sorrow and laugh in all my pain;

Likewise displeaseth me both life and death,

And my delight is causer of this strife.

Robert, Edgar, and Henry Jacobs. Literature. An Introduction to Reading and Writing . Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Wyatt, Sir Thomas. I Find No Peace, 818. Print.

RATIONALE:

We chose the poem “I find No Peace” by Thomas Wyatt because it has a common theme with the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The theme prominent in both the Kite Runner and "I Find No Peace "is loneliness and being isolated. Amir, the main character in the Kite Runner, is lonely because he does not have his father, Baba's attention. In this poem Sir Thomas Wyatt talks about being locked in a prison, feeling isolated from the world. This relates to the Kite Runner in the fact that Amir wants Baba’s attention but feels that he could never make him proud enough to get it. In this fact Amir does every thing; even sacrifices Hassan to obtain it. Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem also relates to Amir's sacrifice when the speaker says “I love another, and thus hate myself”. Or in the Kite Runner Amir loves his Baba but hates himself for betraying Hassan.

Nonfiction Extension

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1162668.stm

Rationale

My group chose the BBC article “Afghanistan – Country Profile” as our nonfiction connection because of how important the country is to Amir in The Kite Runner. Not only does Amir come from Afghanistan, the different things that happen to the country during the course of the book deeply affect both him and the progression of the plot. The article details a brief history of Afghanistan as well as giving information on its current leader and general information about the land and population. In the book, Hosseini writes about the way Afghanistan changes after Russia invades and everything starts going downhill. We see through Amir’s eyes the devastation that happens in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s reign, and through the article we see the horror from the view of a writer twenty years into the future. The article provides a good parallel to the first-person view of Afghanistan portrayed in The Kite Runner.

Works Cited
"BBC News - Afghanistan Country Profile." BBC News. BBC, 7/5/2010. Web. 10 May
2010. .

Discussion: chapters 9-12

Quote: "I waited another thirty minutes. Then i knocked on Baba's door and told what i hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies"(hosseini 104)

Quote: "Forgive? But theft was the one unforgivable sin, the common denominator of all sins. There is no act more wretched then stealing. Hadn't Baba sat me on his lap andsaid those words to me? Then how could he just forgive Hassan? And if Baba could forgive that, then why couldn't he forgive me for not being the son he'd always wanted? Why---"(hisseini 106)

Quote: " Do you have to always be the hero? Can't you just let it go for once? But i knew he couldn't--- it wasn't in his nature. The problem was, his nature was going to get us all killed "

Quote: "I reached across the table and put my hands on his. I thought of all the trucks, trains sets, and bikes he'd bought me in Kabul. Now America. One last gift for Amir."(hosseini 130)

4/29/10 Discussion: chapters 5-8

Quote: "The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dinning room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended"(Hosseini 36).

Quote: "But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! had i really thought that? Of course i hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, then why, when Baba's friends come to vist with their kids, didn't i ever include Hassan in our games? "(Hosseini 40)

Quote:"In the end, i ran. I ran because i was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what i told myself as i turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what i made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason i was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price i had to pay, the lamb i had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before i could thwart it: He was just a Hazara, wasn't he?"(Hosseini 77).

Quote: "In one of those brief bursts of light, I saw something I'll never forget: Hassan serving drinks to Assef and Wali from a silver platter. The light winked out, a hiss and a crackle, then another flicker of orange light: Assef grinning, kneading Hassan in the chest with a knuckle. Then, mercifully, darkness" (Hosseini 100).

4/28/10 Discussion: Chapters 1-4

Word: Buoyed - uplifted; keeping afloat.

Quote: "Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... "When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. DO you see?" (Hosseini 17-18).

Quote: "Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile"(Hosseini 25).

Discussion Topics
What is you opinion on the only sin being thief?

Writers often pull from their surroundings and memories to create stories. Where do you think the main character got the idea for his story?