Whole-Group Discussion The Kite Runner Chapters 7-13

Student-led Whole-Group Discussion  Rules for whole-group discussion: One speaker at a time To add a comment or ask a question, raise your hand & wait for the group leader to call on you. 3. Speak up – make comments, ask questions, try to get everyone to participate Listen and be respectful of each other. The next slides have questions from me about THEMES and the meanings of QUOTES plus a few key points I want to be sure you discuss. My slides are in order of the chapters….

Chapter 7: Key Questions

A Key Questions: What might KITES be a symbol of in the novel? There are several possible answers here…. What might Hassan’s CLEFT LIP symbolize in the novel? Think, young scholars!

What thoughts come to mind when you read this? Quote- Ch. 7 “He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. ‘For you a thousand times over!’ he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. The next time I saw him smile unabashedly like that was twenty-six years later, in a faded Polaroid photograph” (Hosseini 67). What thoughts come to mind when you read this?

THEMEs: Taking into account what occurs in this chapter, discuss your new ideas about the themes of FRIENDSHIP and COURAGE and a new theme- BETRAYAL:

Chapter 8: Key Questions

What thoughts come to mind when you read this? Quote- Ch. 8 “I thought about Hassan’s dream, the one about us swimming in the lake. There is no monster, he’d said, just water. Except he’d been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake… I was that monster” (Hosseini 86). What thoughts come to mind when you read this?

A Key Question Regarding Symbolism: Symbol- “The Monster in the lake” Discuss how each of the following could be interpreted as a “monster” in this story: Assef Amir’s jealousy and desire for Baba’s approval, Amir himself.

THEMEs: Hosseini has been slowly working on another theme since the beginning of the novel: Memories and the Past…. Where do you see this theme so far in the novel, chapters 1-13?

Chapter 9: Key Questions

A Key Question Regarding Amir : Amir involves himself in two types of betrayal. In chapter 7, it is a betrayal of “lack of action.” In chapter 9, Amir ACTIVELY betrays Hassan. Explain – if Baba could understand what was happening right now, how would he apply his idea of “every sin is a theft” here? What is “stolen” in each case?

Quote- Ch. 9 “I flinched, like I’d been slapped… Then I understood: This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew. He knew I’d seen everything in that alley, that I’d stood there and done nothing. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time” (Hosseini 105). What did Hassan do, WHY does he doe it, and why does Amir see it as Hassan “rescuing” him?

THEMEs: How are these two themes developed in this chapter: Betrayal and Fathers & Children?

Chapter 10: Key Questions

A Key Question: In this novel, VIOLENCE the impact on victims of violence [ including the violence of rape ] are explored by Hosseini. Discuss the various types of violence characters either ENDURE or PERPETRATE on others– how are various characters impacted?

THEMEs: If you had to write an essay which examined three key moments of violence in the novel in order to prove violence is, in fact, a theme, what key moments would you select and why? How do you see them tying together?

Chapter 11: Key Questions

A Key Question: Let’s talk about Baba: …as a man …as a father …as a friend …as an immigrant to the United States What do you KNOW for sure? What are you wondering about? Do you like him? Respect or admire him? Fear him? Why?

Quote- Ch. 11 “Long before the Roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools destroyed… Kabul had become a city of ghosts for me. A city of hare- lipped ghosts. America was different. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins” (Hosseini 136 ). Has he really escaped his ghosts? Discuss:

THEMEs: The theme of BETRAYAL is still being subtly referred to– where do you see little references to Amir’s guilt? The theme of MEMORIES & the Past is also further developed in this chapter – why is this theme so important to the reader’s understanding of Amir as a character???

Chapter 12: Key Questions

A Key Question: In real life, Hosseini was a doctor and his character, Amir, had a father who wanted him to BE a doctor. Where do you see the real-life experiences of the author coming into play in this chapter? *Does Baba’s illness feel “real” in the way it’s written? * Soraya… what do you think of her?!?

How might keeping secrets impact both parties in the long run? Quote- Ch. 12 “I envied her. Her secret was out. Spoken. Dealt with. I opened my mouth and almost told her how I’d betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a forty-year relationship between Baba and Ali. But I didn’t” (Hosseini 165 ). Did Amir do the right thing by not telling her about Hassan? Did she do the right thing by telling him her secret? How might keeping secrets impact both parties in the long run?

Chapter 13: Key Questions

Theme of Focus: Memories & the Past THEMEs: Chpts. 12-13 Theme of Focus: Memories & the Past Hosseini uses these chapters to show how the main characters and other Afghans try to maintain some of their traditions. Where do you see this in chapter 12? Chapter 13? *** What can you tell about Afghan views on women from these two chapters, and why do you think Hosseini takes the time to develop it?

How will the death of Baba impact Amir? A Key Question: How will the death of Baba impact Amir?

Quote- Ch. 12 “As I drove, I wondered why I was different. Maybe it was because I had been raised by men; I hadn’t grown up around women and had never been exposed firsthand to the double standard with which Afghan society sometimes treated them… But I think a big part of the reason I didn’t care about Soraya’s past was that I had one of my own. I knew all about regret” (Hosseini 180). What is a “double-standard” in Amir’s eyes when it comes to men and women? How does this quote by Amir explain, partially, why he did NOT tell Soraya about Hassan?