Birthday blog....

Last lesson was amazing, because it was my BIIIRTHHHDAY!!!!!!!

We finished the book, which meannnns that i should know lots and lots about it now, which is slightly worrying. But never the less, looking back on the book, i liiiikke.

And now i would like the chance to redeem (like Amir) myself after answering a question about the last chapter really stupidly. And since this is done via blogspot.com, there is a very small chance that anyone will stop me.

What should have happened:

MR FRANCIS: "So Fi, what do you like about the last chapter"

ME: "Well, my opinion on this matter is.. (gathers thoughts), I liked it.

MR FRANCIS: "Excellent... care to elaborate?"

ME: "Certainly. I like it because of Amir's narration, and he shows a 'glimmer of hope', which contrasts Amir's usual miserable and guilty tone. I think it's a good ending because its written in a way that doesn't come across as cheesy, but leaves an ambiguous ending as the chapter is not 'finished', if ya's get me."

MR FRANCIS: "Bravo. Here's £20"



TOOOOOOOOOODLESSS

The nothing blog...

This is the blog where we didn't actually have a blog, buuut i thought i might as well type it up (although it does look nicer in my planner as it is written in pink with a robin sticker by it's side):

Last lesson we did a test, and i still haven't gotten over the fact that we all voted for it to happen then instead of later. But HEY, we've done it, although it was challenging so I don't feel that confident about it.

(as i wrote this in my diary) I feel like i'm actually writing a diary now - how perculiar.

So, i don't think there's that much else to say. I have to cut out 50 words from my essay and i'm trying to decide to pick through it or eliminate my opening paragraphs. DILEMMA.

(it wass...) 5 DAYS TILL MY BIRTHDAY

TOOODLES.

Assef (and snow)....

SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW. I'm so happy right now i could cry...

but Assef is a nasty character and has reduced my excitement (slightly). So, i shall quote him:

1. "Ethnic cleansing. I like it. I like the sound of that"
2. "What do you want to do with him?" he said. Then a coy smile. "or to him."
3. "Let him stay," Assef said. He grinned. "Let him watch. Lessons are good things for boys."

EW EW EW EW EW EW GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS.

basically, i could have wrote out the whole conversation to show how disgusting Assef is, as everything he says is tinged with vile thoughts.

HAHAHA LOOK WHAT I MADE.... http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/AYEsYgw4UbM4IJjG?cmpid=ey_fb_self

TOOOODLES :)

You're....

trying to write a poem!

On Wednesday it was really fun as we looked at the poem 'You're' by Sylvia Plath, which is all about how the narrator feels towards someone; personally i think it is about the narrator's child. Anyways, we took this poem structure and tried to re-create the same layout and style for ourselves, although this time we talked about one of the characters from the Kite Runner. Very clever :)

I, however, am not, and am struggling to write my poem to the same standard of my dogs' poem, let alone Sylvia Plath. And most of the lines that Miss very kindly said were good, we're stolen from the book.

So far i've got...

You're

my Chinese doll, chiselled from hardwood,

flourishing at Midday,

my harelipped kite runner,

my troubled mulberry seed.....

Now, i realise how shocking this is, and Miss asked for around 14 lines for next lesson, so i'll have another stab at it!

The first meeting...

So today was our first lesson with our supply teacher for the next two weeks, which was very nice :)

We spent the lesson talking about the main characters and the themes in the book. We decided that the main characters were Hassan, Amir and Baba...and Assef plays an important role as well. We also discussed the themes, and hopefully I can remember most of them to talk about with you all now:

1. Story telling - not only is the book one story, but there are lots of sub-stories throughout. Amir learns alot in this book through other people, just like the reader
2. Redemption - Amir tries to redeem himself for watching Hassan getting raped when he was 10 years old by finding and rescuing Sohrab
3. Pride - Baba has great pride in himself, and lacks pride for his son. Hassan also gets shot because he stood up to the Taliban, because he was right and telling the truth about the house
4. Friendship - The break of friendship between Amir and Hassan, and the friendship between Rahim and Baba
5. Love - Amir reaching out for love from Baba, and the love between Hassan and Amir as children, who turn out to be brothers
6. Guilt/shame - The shame of Amir throughout the book
7. Violence - The different types of violence throughout the book; emotional, sexual, verbal and physical all happened between Amir and Hassan, which drove them apart

I remember there being 8, but unfortunately i failed to remember it, sorry!

TOODLES.

Hosseini's story telling skills....

Well, I think Mr. Hosseini is very skilled in this chapter (chapter 22), because when I first read the book, I remember literally being like "nooooo" as soon as I realised Assef was back (I appreciate that I am a lot slower than all of you so I wont embarrass myself by telling you the point when I realised).

Hosseini uses foreshadowing to suggest that something bad is going to happen - "unaware that it would be the last bit of solid food i would eat for a long time". Further on in the chapter, Hosseini foreshadows that something bad is going to happen because of the way that Assef  acts around Sohrab; the way that "his hands slid down the child's back, then up, felt under his armpits". This also makes it very uncomfortable for the reader to read, which I suppose allows the reader to feel more involved in the story.

Also, Hosseini implies to the reader before Assef actually says anything that he is the 'baddy' in this chapter by subtly dropping echoes of Assef beforehand, the vulgur description of when he had a dried blood spot on his left sleeve and "he hadn't changed clothes after executions earlier that day", instantly reminds the reader of the previous bad character, Assef.

From page 249 onwards, the dialect becomes a lot more broken and sharp; Hosseini doing this to create tension and suspense. Also, just like throughout the whole book, when times get tough for Amir, Hosseini lets us know this by suddenly going off subject through Amir's thoughts. Even after the italics on page 251, the narration is slightly faded as Amir can't remember everything that has happened - for the first time in this book. By Hosseini doing this, it emphasises the reader just how brutal this chapter was as the memories stand out.

The last point I'm going to talk about today is symbolism. Earlier in the chapter Assef tells a story to Amir about when he was so unfairly beaten up, to the point where he burst out laughing - as if he was cured. This also happens to Amir in where he was so unfairly beaten up and he got to the point where he was laughing. However, Hosseini makes this happen to both characters to demonstrate the contrast in personalities. Assef realises he can become even more powerful, for the worse. But, Amir becomes cured of his weakness, and is no longer afraid.

TOODLE PIP - see what I did there?

The return of Assef....

Assef has got even nastier, if that's at all possible. Before Assef even is seen in Chapter 22, there are echoes of him throughout. Assef's description is horrible and slightly hypocritical; "I saw marks on his forearm - I'd seen those same tracks on homeless people living in grim alleys in San Francisco." Assef's a drug addict, a person who is looking after himself properly, is actually controlling thousands of people, and controlling them in a horrible way too! It's clear that Assef hasn't changed, and even though he is discriminating against thousands for their appearance, he still is different from everyone else - "his skin was much paler than the other two men's" and was "wearing his dark John Lennon glasses, looking like some broad-shouldered, New Age mystic guru." Assef has the same presence as he did before, making everybody petrified in just his body language - "I had a sudden urge to urinate."

I know I've only really talked about his appearance and briefly about his personality - but I'll talk about this is more detail in the other blog just to keep everyone smiling :)

TOODLES.

Ze beginning of change...

Wowza. Theres a lot to take in looking back over my notes. There is definitely a lot of mirroring, which i think is real clever because it must have taken ages to put all those hints in - impressed. I quite like Farid in this chapter because he gives Amir the reality check I think he needs to realise that he's got to stop feeling sorry for himself. I especially like the part of the chapter where he gives the children the watch but then... "They hadn't been staring at the watch at all. They'd been staring at my food." This shows Amir's ignorance and lack of understand about how most people in Afghanistan live their lives.

I also like the irony of Amir's fear becoming a strength - showing Amir starting to grow as he becomes aware that he has to deal with this, and can't carry on ignoring it. I am now going to cleverly back up my point with a quote such as "But I knew I had to leave as soon as possible. I was afraid I'd change my mind."


So yeah, onto the next bloggaty blog.

TOOOODLES.

Chapter 17 - Just like I will be in 33 days (without the chapter part)....

I dont actually mind you reading this one out... probably change my mind after i've pressed 'publish post' though.

I think that chapter 17 is becoming one of my faveeee chapters. It's full of sentences that are written really well and make me jealous that i can't write like that - although this blog is pretty fine, if I do say so myself. Hassan still appears so cute that I want to go up and give him a cuddle and tell him it'll all be ok, but then he gets shot.

(awkward silence turtle)

Although Amir is in a way the bad character of the book, we all have a bit of a soft spot of him. But i lost it in this chapter. NAUGHTY AMIR. He's soooo annoying i want to tell him to get a grip. All he can think of is himself and he's still hooked (is that the word?) up on the idea that he has a 'secret' brother, not the fact that his brother just died. Why would you think like that? I have no answers.

I do apologise sincerely that this blog isn't the least bit serious, but my draft of this one was so intense i scared myself.

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODLES (PLEASE SAY THIS PROPERLY)

Half way there...

We looked at the circle of narrative, and in chapter 14, one 'circle' is complete. The book started in December 2001 all the way back at the beginning, and then Hosseini then went back in time to 1975 to fill us in on all the juicy gossip. Roughly half way through the book, Chapter 14, we reach the point of June 2001. This means that the rest of the book is about the next 6 months - another turning point; the first half shows Amir's sin, the second half shows Amir's redemption. "There is a way to be good again."

I liked all the subtle hints that we found and talked about which relates again to Chapter 1; the kites, the golden gate bridge, the phone call all emphasise the circle of narrative, showing their importance. Hosseini uses a lot of time phrases to tell the story in Chapter 14 and 15. There are repeated time phrases such as 1981, which was wrote about in Chapter 10, when they left Kabul. There's a huge aspect of change, not only shown when Amir describes Kabul, but when he sees Rahim too. Now he's returned, Rahim is old and fragile- "a thing made of skin and bones pretending to be Rahim Khan opened the door". I like this quote because it mirrors Baba's and Amir's relationship; when Baba became ill, Amir took control, and now that Rahim's ill, Amir has to find Sohrab. 

There are obviously loads more connections, but i would hate to deprive anyone else from having their blog read out loud.

TOOOOOOOOODLES. 

Chapter 11...

Don't feel like you have to read this out loud, really not that interesting today... although if you've got this far, you're probably going to carry on anyway:

Chapter 11 shows the relationship between Baba and Amir, and this is the turning point for them because this is where Amir begins to act as a carer towards Baba. Baba begins to weaken and his strong, dominant character starts to fade away - ahh.

So, i am completely incapable of making a plan. I must work on making it un-readable.


TOOOODLES.

(its FRIDDAYYY)

Chapter 10...

Chapter 10 shows that Baba and Amir's relationship is back to normal, and the glory of winning the kite tournament was short lived. If I was Amir i would feel even worse now, because getting the kite from Hassan didn't even benefit their relationship in the long run.

I thought the bit where Baba is nearly killed is really really well written, as is the rest of the book but i like how even in the face of death Amir still struggles to voice his opinion to his father  - "Do you have to always be the hero?"

Although, saying this, Amir doesn't exactly try hard to stop Baba, he tugs on his shirt and tells him he's going to get shot but only tries once, and i'd like to think that most people would try a little harder to save their parent, especially if they've already lost one.

Also, after "the gun roared", his thoughts aren't exactly normal in my opinion; "it's done then" isn't a reaction i would have expected....

That lovely chapter....

Urgh. Horrible. But i guess, fairly important - so I shall blog.

There are loads of things that are important about the way chapter 7 is written; the link with chapter 1, the foreshadowing, the dreams, the memories all play an important part in creating a vivid picture for the reader, whether they want it or not.

Chapter 7 is so significant because chapter 1 leads up to it, constantly referring, and then the rest of the book happens the way it does because of chapter 7. (I'm sure that could be said in a much better way)

But more of my thoughts will be revealed in my wonderful essay, which I did instead of reading to the blind and feeding the hungry.

TOOOOODLES.

Things I like about chapter 6....

Not sure if this was meant to be a blog or not... but decided to put it on here to make me look more intelligent!

Note: Don't read this out..... very long!

1) "the chill between Baba and me thawed a little. And the reason for that was the kites. Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres." I like this because it shows just how important kites are, not only for the culture, and to show how important Hassan is, but also to show how important kites are in Baba's and Amir's relationship.

2) "I never slept the night before the tournament" shows the childish ways of Amir, which I think is sometimes forgotten when he describes the in depth relationship with his father, e.g. when he talks about "killing his beloved wife"

3) "but they he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favourite." I like this because it show's Amir's jealousy and desperation for a stronger relationship with his father.

4)"Afghans are independent people." I think this represents Baba really well.

5)"That wasn't a rule. That was custom." This is the way it's seen by everyone, but Assef think's differently, as he would.

6) "I decided to toy with him a little." This shows an unequal friendship between Amir and Hassan, which could be a result of Amir's jealousy of the appeared favouritism of Hassan from Baba. This is also shown here - "But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan".

7) "I dropped my eyes. To this day, I find it hard to gaze directly at people like Hassan, people who mean every word they say." I think this shows Amir's uncertainty about everyone around him, and it's an important quote which is true for the whole book.

8) "And may God - if He exists, that is - strike me blind if the kite didn't just drop into his out stretched arms". I like this because it brings a lighter moment into a weird conversation.

9) "Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over." This shows the real reason behind Amir entering the kite competition, to gain a relationship with his father.

10) "He was so goddamn pure, you always felt like a phony around him." I think Hassan's perfectness has added to Amir's unsettledness and confusion in life.

Nasty, nasty Assef....

In Chapter 5, Assef the baddy makes his first appearance. (da da duuuuh) 

As we discussed in the lesson, the way Hosseini describes Assef, and the way his presence affects Hassan's and Amir's behaviour shows just how big and scary Assef is, and makes the reader think's he's rather horrid!

Assef thinks Hitler is a genius, and Hosseini links Assef with Hitler when Assef talks about his vision. Assef is also one bit hypocrite because he is racist towards Hazara people and says that Afghanistan should be for, and only for Pashtun's, but he's not even a 'real' Pashtun. 

I think Chapter 5 is important because it shows Hassan's character too and how lovely he is. Its sad that he accepts being abused because of his race, but its really sweet when he steps in to save Amir, and his politeness still remains even though he's about to get beaten up. 

The impact of Assef's character is mahooosive, as it still scares Hassan and Amir even after Assef has left - "Niether one of us said much of anything as we walked home in trepidation, certain that Assef and his friends would ambush us every time we turned a corner."

So i'm gonna go now because X factor is on, which is VERY important. Toooodles :) 

Baba in chapter 3...

On Wednesday we looked at Baba and how he is represented as you already know - because it's only people in my class who will read this. But I'm hoping this doesn't get read out, because mine always does (and there's always a mistake in here somewhere)! Buuuutttt, the chances of that happening are rather slim, soo......

My favourite quotes from Chapter 3 which demonstrate Baba's characters areeeeeee:

1)     “Baba had drawn the blueprints himself despite the fact that he’d had no architectural experience at all”. I like this because I think it’s quite ambiguous. It could be seen as Baba seeing this as a personal achievement, or it could be seen as Baba being very controlling, and not wanting anyone else to take credit. 
2) ““I think I have saratan”. Cancer. Baba lifted his head from the pages flapping in the breeze. Told me I could get the soda myself, all I had to do was look in the trunk of the car”. This shows how desperate Amir is to have a relationship with his father, demonstrating that Baba’s keeping himself to himself, and at a distance from his son. 
3) “I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess”. I like this because it not only shows that Amir feels guilty, but it shows that Amir feels guilty because of the way that Baba has hinted, the way Baba acts around him. 
4) “my father molded the world around his liking” – showing the power and strength of Baba, making an impact on the whole world.




Toodles :)

The Kite Runner, Chapter 2....

Ok so on Friday the 8th of October we read through chapter two and studied it, which was reeeeally fun :) Although I didn't pick up on everything (well most things to be honest) I got a few so I am happy :)

A few of my favourite bits of Chapter two are:

1) "and the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless". This presents Hassan as a victim, and just makes me go 'ahhh' as it maked Hassan sound really sweet and delicate!

2) "I am a baby in that photograph and Baba is holding me, looking tired and grim. I'm in his arms, but it's Rahim Khan's pinky my fingers are curled around." I looooove this because it demonstrates that their relationship was rocky even at the beginning of Amir's life.

3)"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." I think this is just really clever, because it shows how the feel about eachother, again as children, and foreshadows the whole book in just a few sentences.

Russians in Afghanistan...

The soviet war lasted almost 10 years, and on the 27th December 1979, 700 Russian troops (dressed in Afghan uniforms) invaded Kabul, Afghanistan. 

Ok, so i read through the info that i found but found it all too confusing! So, i read through Alice's a couple of times because it's so brilliant, and i understood a lot more. Thanks Alice! This is what i remembered without trying to copy her work! (Alice please forgive me!)

This war happened because the soviet people were told they were going to free Afghan communists, they wanted better access to the sea for trade, and Afghan had good stores of things, such as ion.

Right so the Russian prime minister, Hazifullah Amin, led a communist based government, which rejected religion, targeting the Afghans. The Afghans formed a group called Mujahideen, but the Russians said that Mujahideen's were 'Islamic Extremists'. 

When Amin was shot, the prime minister Kamal took over, and as a lot of people joined the Mujahideen, it eventually took 85,000 Russians to control Kamal. But, it turns out that the Afghans actually knew their country quite well, suprisingly, and although the Russians used posionous gas to try and kill the Mujahideen, by 1982, the Mujahideen controlled 75% of Afghanistan. So the Russians were then defeated, as it took all their money with weapons and stuff!  This is when the Taliban began to grow....

Hazara and Pashtun....

In the Kite Runner, Amir is Pashtun, while his servant, Hassan is a Hazara boy.

Hazara's are a Persian-speaking ethnic group, living in mainly central Afghanistan. The origin of Hazara's is not fully known, although it is thought that they are partially involved with the Mongolian culture. They were seen as lower class, and were slaves and servants in their community.

Pashtun's are primarily situated in Afghanistan and western Pakistan, and are the largest ethnic group - over 49 million people. The commuinity of Pashtun's were seen, or saw themselves as higher class than Hazara's. Pashtun's created the Taliban to take over Afghanistan.

Speech....

Last Friday we learned about different types of speech used in stories - direct and indirect, attributed and unattributed. I didn't know about them before but now i do :) We looked at chapter 1 of the Kite Runner - and the echo of direct speech confuses the reader, but helps in the long run (i think).

Chronilogical Topography....

I found it interesting to highlight and talk about the amount of time phrases put in some extracts that we looked at. I now realise just how much you react to subconsciously when you're reading, and automatically paint the picture and produce the time line in your mind. I liked the extract 'Bird song' that we read, and the prologue was simply '1948. Before...'. creating tension even before you've read the book!

A crumpled piece of paper....

Ok, so for homework we were asked to think of 5 or 6 possibilities of what a crumpled piece of paper could mean in a fiction story to show how things can be interpreted in many, many ways (just like the 'this is not a pipe exercise') :

1. I think it could mean that someone angrily screwed it up and were too cross to pick it up afterwards, maybe after repeatedly failing to write a letter to someone very important or significant to them in the story
2. Another possibility is that someone was extremely bored and started to play football with it to pass the time, maybe they are being punished for something they did wrong and stuck in their room!?
3. They could also have walked into a room and found nothing but this piece of paper, but giving the persons' history, are too afraid to pick it up and discover the contents
4. Someone could do what I do on occasions(!) and put pieces of paper on the floor because they find it really entertaining to watch their dogs walk around with pride with it in their mouth, then shred them, to later wait for their parents to come and clear it up :)
5. It could be a really extravagant persons' piece of art work, and they are waiting for someone to accidently stand on it and then sell it on for £1,000,000,000!
6. My final thought that springs to mind is that a younger brother could be playing a practical joke on another member of the family, and when one of the family come to clear up his mess, he jumps out from behind the sofa  and consequently gets told off! 

These aren't the best examples ever I know, and I'm sure that other people from my class will have done much better! 

Sequence....

So we also did about sequence today, in period 3. I learnt all about how sequence affects the story and has a big affect of expectations. For example, in a murder, if the story started just after the murder had happened it would creates millions and millions of questions from the reader as to why this murder happened, why was the person killed? etc... However, if you were to start the story leading up to the murder, it would make the reader want to read on for entirely different purposes e.g. will the murder actually happen?

We also learnt about analepsis - a posh word for skipping time or a flashback, that I found really interesting. This links into the Kite Runner, and although only studying a page and a half of the book so far, 3 time zones have come into the 2 paragraphs - December 2001, 1975 and Summer 2000. To be honest, I failed miserably to notice it to start off with, and if we hadn't done the lesson before which linked into it, I still might not have done, but now that I have, I am far more conscious of the fact that I want to know what's going to happen next :)

Suspension of Belief....

So, in period 1 today we were discussing suspension of belief. Suspension of belief, in my opinion, is about the reader believing in the fiction thing they are reading, whether it be a magazine, novel or poem; the readers suspends their judgement regarding the 'impossibility' of the narrative. I think that if the reader believes in whatever they are reading, they will not only be able to empathise more strongly with the passage, but I think the story will have a greater effect on them as they will have a better understanding. 


For example, we looked at the 'memoirs of a geisha' and the translators note at the beginning of the book implies that it's a journalist from New York writing the book, when actually it's written by a completely different author - perfectly demonstrating suspension of belief :)


I didn't realise how often it happens - even the phrase 'based on a true story' makes you believe the novel is true, when it probably based on something minor like the street name. But nevertheless, I'm sure i will continue falling for it every time!