Monday, Nov. 1st

Quiz Tomorrow!! So let's start with Chapter 9 - 12 Review Questions - in Groups answer the following Q's. You have 15 minutes. Go! Look to each other and to the book for answers.

1. What is inscribed in the pomegranate tree in the back yard? Why is it significant that Amir and Hassan have a fight in front of this tree?


2. What does Amir put under Hassan's mattress? Why does he do it?


3. What does Baba than do that shocks Amir?


4. What happens to Hassan and Ali?


5. Who is Karim?


6. Why do Amir and his father flee Afghanistan?


7. Why does Baba challenge the Russian officer who is obviously high on drugs?


8. In Chapter 10 several things happen that are ironic or foreshadowing. Explain each of these:
   - The only way Amir can survive the long ride in the tank truck is to remember flying kites with Hassan.
   - Baba gathers p the dirt of his homeland and places it next to his heart.
   - Kamal's father commits suicide after Kamal dies from breathing th fumes of the truck.
   - Kamal, one of Hassan's attackers has been raped and has not spoken since.
   


9. Chapter 11 has a new setting? What is it?


10. "America was different. America was a river roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade down this river, let me sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far." Who says this? What does it reveal? What does the metaphor mean?


11. Who is Soraya (Ch.11)?


12. What are Baba and Amir doing in San Jose on the weekends?


13. Who is General Taheri?


14. What is Baba's reaction to what Amir says he wants to study in college?


15. Baba says, "It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can change the course of a whole lifetime." Whom is he speaking to? Why? How is the quote significant?


16. What does Amir observe about a double standard in Ch.12?


17. What is Baba diagnosed with?

Teacher Reading - Starting at Chapter 13


Discussion - Women in Afghanistan - the extreme double standard.

Article #1 - Afghanistan Online Magazine
Article #2 - CBC News Online
Article #3 - Journal of International Women's Studies
Article #4 - Wikipedia
Article #5 - TIME Magazine
Article #6 - The Globe and Mail

CMap Video

These old videos embarrass me more than my hairdo today. However, this one has a good overview of what you can do with Cmap.

Please laugh on the inside. :)

Video - Hosseini hopes for a better future...

Wednesday, October 27th

1) Teacher Reading - in D block I'll read Chapter 10, in B I'll start at page 123.


Discussion


2) Silent Reading?


3) Ch. 5 - 8 review and notes...


Ch.5 - Before Amir can respond to Hassan's Q's about his story, gunfire erupts outside. "Afghanistan changed forever." Fear was everywhere. Even Baba was terrified. This was the July 17th, 1973 coup that followed with the Russian occupation.



We meet Assef, the young sociopath, that worships Hitler, calls Ali "Babalu", and threatens Amir for being friends with Hassan and Hassan for being a "Flat-nosed, donkey Hazara." Brass knuckles = symbol of brute force and domination by force. Hassan uses a slingshot to intimidate and get him and his friends to walk away.

"This isn't the end for you..." More foreshadowing.



Hassan's birthday- plastic surgeon to correct harelip. Could finally smile... but shortly after would never smile again.



Ch.6 - Winter. Kite flying season. 1975 - the biggest kite season ever... the competition was fierce. Baba really wanted Amir to win. The promise of the TV. Hassan: "I like where I live." Hassan, in all things remains the subserviant one. He is the servant, he is the kite runner/servant... he is happy to be who he is.



The importance of the title - who is the kite runner? Why is the book really about him? What does kite running represent?



Ch.7

Self Evaluation Rubrics

Here are the rubrics for The Kite Runner (more to come soon...)

Journal Rubric

Notes Rubric

Tuesday, Oct.25th - Chapter 1 to 4 review...

1) Reading - Ch. 9, followed by a bit of silent reading.

2) Discussion and Notes - review beginning themes and developments.

3) Hand back group presentation marks - finally! :)

4) Rubrics

5) Time to work...

Help! The bulletin board is naked! Fill it up. Find articles, maps, photos, timelines, images, essays related to our novel study. It is our collaborative project. At the end of the unit, I will ask your group to submit a list of all the items you submitted for up to 10 marks total.

Notes and Review

Ch.1 - Sets the tone. The past cannot be forgotten. A single moment defines Amir. "There is a way to be good again."
Two focal points: the past and redemption.

Ch.2 - Hassan and Amir - two "brothers." A metaphor for all divisions.

Both boys are motherless... nursed by the same woman.

Fathers are vastly different... religion and ethnicity a barrier.
First words: Amir said, "Baba," and Hassan said, "Amir."

Ch.3 - Baba is described. "Huge." Intimidating. Powerful.

Disgusted by his son's weakness. He cries at the site of a man trampled by a horse.

Some foreshadowing: "God help us if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands..." [religious fundementalists]

Ch.4 - more tragedy and violence is detailed --> Ali's parents killed by drunk driving young men.

Baba's father takes him in and they are raised as brothers. Like Amir and Hassan ethnic/religious/social barriers keep them from being real friends.

Amir's Story - about the man whose tears turn to pearls. AMir turns it into a dark and tragic story. Hassan = innocence and goodness and asks why he has to kill his wife and why he could not cry tears of joy or just cut onions to make himself cry.

Rahim Khan - offers praise, "Bravo!" And he says: "But the most impressive thing about your story is that it has irony."

Irony: A literary device where the appearance of things differs from reailty, in terms of meaning, situation or action.

Verbal Irony (Sarcasm): When what is said is the opposite of what is meant.

Dramatic Irony: When what is intended and what actually happens is opposite. In the case of a play, we often experience this when we know more than a character... and we want to tell them to stop what they are doing because the outcome will not be what they desire.

Situational Irony: What is thought about a situation and what is actually the case is opposite.

Developing Motifs:

Sin - Redemption

Loyalty and Goodness

Silence and Secrets

Tragedy and Violence

Betrayal - Retribution

Political vs. Personal

Thursday, October 21st

1) Teacher Reading - Ch.7
2) Silent Reading - Ch. 8

3) Pashtun vs. Hazara Activity
4) Review History Handout - Reminder: quick quiz on Monday. Library day Monday, too.

4) Time to work on projects
Collaborate!! "We're better together!"

Chapter One Notes

You can link to the Google Doc here.

Kite Runner Vocabulary Help

This link has most of the words that you might not know the meaning of. All of these are testable and quizable.

Wednesday, October 19th

In response to a student's smart suggestion, I am reversing the order of things a little. I'll read first and then silent reading will follow.

1) Teacher Reading - Chapter 5
2) Silent Reading - finish at least up to Chapter 6 tonight. I'll read Chapter 7 tomorrow.
3) Discussion -->
4) Notes - Chapters 1 -4 --> Template in Google Docs
5) Review all the major projects. Questions.
6) Time to work. Your choice - the journal, the bulletin board, the creative and visual projects... get out your schedule and set up some deadlines. I'll come around and sign them.

Kite Runner Project Choices

See them here.

Kite Runner Unit Overview

You can see the Google Doc version here.

Tuesday, Oct. 19th

Silent Reading - Read Ch. 3

Teacher Reading - Read Ch. 4?

Notes - Character List
Brief History of Afghanistan = SETTING
About Hosseini

Discussion - Who are Amir, Hassan, Baba??? What are they like? How do we know?
Is it possible to be good again? Do you believe in redemption? Examples?

Time to Work - Projects/Writing

The Kite Runner begins...

1) Take out The Kite Runner
2) Discussion: Are there absolute rights and wrongs?
Terms to Know:

Hedonism - pursuit of or devotion to the pursuit of pleasure.

Altruism - Unselfish concern for the welfare of others. An altruist is not concerned with pursuing pleasure.

False Dichotomy

3) Read first two chapters

4) Unit Overview and Personalized Completion Plan - see it here.

Friday, Oct.15th

1) Silent Reading in B block, Presentations in D block

2) Get out your draft response to the Q's about My Left Foot

3) Sentence Variety Handout

4) Netbook Lab - Google Apps Page

5) Type up your My Left Foot Draft

6)Edit it with a partner - create a Google Doc, upload your response, and share with tara.colborne@sd71.bc.ca If you do not get this done during class-time, it is homework. You will be marked out 0f 12 with special attention to sentence variety.

7) If you get done, start to do some research on Afghanistan - explore their history, religions, culture.... Monday - we begin The Kite Runner. Tests will be returned on Monday, as well.

Have a great weekend!

My Left Foot - Writing Topics

1) "Hope deferred makes a heart sick." Christy quotes this and Dr. Eileen knows the proverb, as well. How is it that hope can be both a positive and negative emotion?

2) "To Be or Not to Be..." Hamlet's famous soliloquy about whether or not to be alive or dead is repeated by Christy over and over. What would you have said to Christy when he was suicidal? What reasons might you have given him to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune?"

3) Tell your own story about empathy/compassion - it can be about a lack of empathy or about someone who exemplifies empathy.

Remember that a movie is like a text. You must use the title and refer to specific parts of the film as evidence.

300-500 words

Rough copy due Friday.