1. by Khaled Hosseini

2. Khaled Hosseini Born in Kabul in 1965 His family moved to San Jose in 1980 He graduated from Santa Clara University and UC San Diego School of Medicine He is a doctor in San Jose The Kite Runner is his first novel (has sold over 3 million copies worldwide)

3. Story Synopsis Maps the journey of Amir, the narrator The story takes place in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States from 1975 to 2003

4. Afghanistan

5. A VERY Brief History of Afghanistan 1919-1929: King introduces reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan 1929-1973: Series of different kings and Prime Ministers 1973: Afghanistan proclaimed as a republic 1978: People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) assassinates current king, working under the idea of Marxism

6. A VERY Brief History of Afghanistan 1979: Soviet Union invades Afghanistan partly to support the Marxists 1980: The United States and other countries begin sending arms to Afghanistan in support of those fighting against the Soviets 1981-1989: Afghan resistance groups form an alliance known as mujahedin Feb 1989: Soviet troops completely withdraw

7. A VERY Brief History of Afghanistan 1992: Mujahedin take over and instate new president 1992-1996: With Communists gone, suppressed ethnic rivalries resurface, leading to civil war 1994: The Taliban, made up of mostly Pashtuns, gather support Sept 1996: Taliban take Kabul

8. A VERY Brief History of Afghanistan 1997: Non Pashtun groups band together as the Northern Alliance to fight the Taliban 1998: Taliban stages massive attack, killing over 6,000 Hazaras 1998-2001: Taliban fight the Northern Alliance 2001: Support by Taliban, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda attacks the United States Oct 2001: United States starts bombing Afghanistan when Taliban refuses to hand over bin Laden

9. A VERY Brief History of Afghanistan 2002-2006: International coalition forces fight the remnants of the Taliban. Afghans work to create a constitution and hold democratic elections 2004: First democratically elected president takes over in Afghanistan

10. Synopsis Narrator’s name is Amir. He- – belongs to a wealthy family and his father is a businessman – belongs to the dominant Pashtun ethnic group – belongs to the dominant Sunni religious group Amir tells the story of his friendship with Hassan- – Hassan and his father, Ali, are Amir’s servants – Hassan and his father belong to the Hazara ethnic group (low-caste) – Hassan and his father belong to the minority Shi’it religious denomination – Hassan is the victim of discrimination because of his ethnic and religious background and beliefs.