"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
-STEVE JOBS
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read
according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition,
inciting incident, etc.). Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's
purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
The Kite Runner is a novel that takes place in Kabul,
Afghanistan in the 1960’s to the 2000’s. The novel is about Amir Jan a Pashtun
and Hassan a Hazara. The novel begins with a phone call from Rahim Khan to
Amir. Amir is hesitant on going to Afghanistan because of his dark past. Amir
tells us about his past and how he paid his debt for doing wrong. Hassan and
Amir were together since birth. They grew up together with Baba and Ali. Amir
would read and play with Hassan. Amir was a coward young boy while Hassan was
brave and loyal. Amir feared that he would never be able to please his father
like Hassan seemed to. So one day Amir made it his goal to win the kite running
competition. Amir and Hassan won. Then, Hassan fetched the kite for Amir and
was caught between Assef and his two friends all bullies of any Hazaras. Assef
scarred Hassan in the worst way possible, he stripped him from his clothes and
raped him, leaving him desolate and depressed for a very long time. The brotherhood
between Hassan and Amir is broken because poor Amir watched everything and
could do nothing about it. He was ashamed and could not bare to look or speak
to Hassan. Hassan and Ali decide to move after some time. Amir and Baba move to
San Fracisco. There Amir gets married with Soraya and becomes a good writer.
Baba dies of Cancer about a month before Amir gets the call from Rahim Khan to
got to Afghanistan to cleanse his past. There Rahim tells him that Hassan was
his half brother and he advices him to find his nephew Sohrab. Amir goes on a
journey to find Sohrab, he encounters himself with a series of dangerous events
and people, but the point is that he finds him and he is under the watch of the
Taliban. The head master of the Taliban is Assef and that is when hell breaks
loose. There is a fight between Amir and Assef; Sohrab saves Amir. Amir tries
to take Sohrab to America. After a month or more Sohrab and Amor get home San
Francisco where Soraya awaits them eagerly. Sohrab is a quiet kid he lives
within himself, he does not smile and is anti-social. The first day Amir saw him smile in a very long time was the
day they flew a kite together.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid
cliches.
There are many possible themes, but the one that drove
the novel was the fact that Amir needed to feel good again, he needed to pay
for his wrongs. The theme being the unbelievable things people will do to get
rid of guilt and be at peace with their minds.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three
excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The authors tone is guilty, hurtful, confused, and
frightened.
Ex1) Pg. 1 “Because the past claws its way out. Looking
back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last
twenty-six years.”
Ex2) Pg. 78 “ I was glad I didn’t have to return his
gaze. Did he know I knew? And if he knew, then what would I see if I did look
in his eyes? Blame? Indignation? Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless
devotion?”
Ex3) Pg.343 “ Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming.
Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would
rip and m chest explode. Later, they said I was still screaming when the
ambulance arrived.”
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary
elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the
author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each,
please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers.
(Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
1. Pg. 1-Foreshadowing: “One day
last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see
him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn’t just
Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins.”
2. Pg. 73-Flashback: “Assef yelped
as he flung himself at Hassan, knocking him to the to the ground. Wali and
Kamal followed. I bit on my fist. Shut my eyes.
A memory: Did you know Hassan and you fed from the same breast? Did you know
that, Amir agha?”
3. Pg. 135-Point of view:
“Sometimes, I got behind the wheel of my foed, rolled down the windows, and
drove for hours, from the East Bay to the South Bay, up the peninsula and
back.”
4. Pg. 126 Exposition: “In 1980,
when we were still in Kabul, the U.S announced it would be boycotting the Olympic
Games in Moscow.”
5. Pg. 2 Symbolism: “And suddenly
Hassan’s voice whispered in my head. For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the
harelipped kite runner.”
Pg. 371 “Behind us, the kids were
scampering, and a melee of screaming kite runners was chasing the loose kite
drifting high above the trees. I blinked and the smile was gone. But it had
been there. I had seen it.”
6. Pg. 75 Imagery: “Assef knelt
behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s lips and lifted his bare buttocks. He
kept one hand on Hassan’s back and undid his own belt buckle with his free
hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself
behind Hassan. Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper.”
7. Pg. 76 Allusion: “It was the
look of the lamb. –Tomorrow is the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of
the Muslim calendar…- a day to celebrate how the prophet Ibrahim almost
sacrificed his own son for God… Just a second before he slices the throat in
one expert motion, I see the sheep’s eyes. It is a look that will haunt my
dreams for weeks.”
8. Pg. 330-331 Conflict: “your
petition to adopt this young fellow. Give it up. That’s my advice to you…-we
strongly discourage U.S citizens from attempting to adopt Afghanistan
children.”
9. Pg. 2 Mood: A bit solemn thoughtful
in this excerpt from the novel.
“…Rahim Khan said just before he
hung up, almost as an afterthought. There is a way to be good again. I looked up
at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I
thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed
everything. And made me what I am today.”
10. Pg. 281 Climax: “ His name
escaped my lips: Assef.”
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two
examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both
approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the
character as a result)?
The author uses both approaches because it gives the reader a chance
to view the characters in two perspectives; one being how the characters
portray themselves and the other being how others portray them. With Amir’s
character both indirect and direct characterizations matched for me. His
cowardly actions and the way he was described were no different from each
other. When it came to Hassan, I felt like he did not get enough credit for how
intelligent, curious and loyal he was because he was born a Hazara.
Indirect Characterizations Examples:
Ex1) Amir Jan: Pg. 33 “I read it to him in the living room by the
marble fireplace. No playful straying this time; this was about me! Hassan was
the perfect audience in many ways, totally immersed in the tale, his face
shifting with the changing tones in the story. When I read the last sentence,
he made a muted clapping sound with his hands.”
Ex2) Hassan: Pg. 33 “ Mashallah, Amir agha. Bravo! He was beaming…Some
day you will be a great writer-and people all over the world will read your
stories.”
Direct Characterization Examples:
Ex1) Amir Jan: Pg. 23-24 “But he’s always buried in those books or
shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dreams-There is something
missing in that boy.”
Ex2) Hassan: Pg. 22 “ Hassan steps in and fends them off. I’ve seen it
with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, How did Hassan get
that scrape on his face? And, he says, he fell down.”
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he
focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
In my opinion the author’s syntax and diction do not change when
referring to a specific character. The transition is constant and ongoing. The
mood and/or feelings may change when speaking of a certain character, but the
syntax and diction are usually constant. Though is any of the two change
slightly it is usual the diction because the words used to describe a character
are adjectives and other detailed words.
Ex1) Pg 334 “Then I took my own bath, lay there until the streaming
hot water turned cold and my skin shriveled up. I lay there drifting,
wondering, imagining…Omar Faisal was chubby, dark, had dimpled cheeks, black
button eyes, and an affable, gap-toothed smile. His thinning gray hair was tied
back in a ponytail.”
Ex2) pg.279 “ The boy had his father’s round moon face, his pointy
stub of chin, his twisted, seashell ears, and the same slight frame.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or
round? Explain.
Amir Jan is a dynamic character, because as an audience we are able to
see him grow and mature into a man. Yes, it is fair to say that some things
never leave the person for example, his cowardice, but he still became a
different person than what he once was. In the beginning it almost seems as if
Amir will never change that he will always be that boy that could not stand up
to anything, that would rather hide than fight, but as the novel continues Amir
is forced to change into a more responsible and courageous young man. When he
returns to Afghanistan is when this transformation happens. The will to be at
peace with himself and Sohrab are what drive him to live up to this expectation
of a brave man.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like
you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that
illustrates your reaction.
After reading “The Kite Runner” I felt like I got to
know Amir well because of all the personal information, feelings, and thoughts
he described in the novel. The fact that he was the narrator was also much
help. Amir admitted so much on his life that it almost seems as if the novel
itself served as a personal diary.
“The sun was beginning to set, glittering red through
the cracks between the ramshackle buildings. It hit me again, the enormity of
what I had done that winter and that following summer. The names rang in my
head: Hassan, Sohrab, Ali, Farzana and Sanaubar. Hearing Rahim Khan speak Ali’s
name was like finding an old dusty music box that hadn’t been opened in years; the
melody began to play immediately: who did you eat today, Babalu? Who did you
eat, you slant-eye Babalu? I tried to conjure Ali’s frozen face, to really see
his tranquil eyes, but time can be a greedy thing-sometimes it steals all the
details for itself.”
TALE OF A CANTERBURY TALE
MILLER'S TALE
Great
Source: http://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/03milt.html
Summary (Izamar Diaz) http://idiazenglitcomp13.blogspot.com/
1. Explain the central character of the tale by
analyzing 5 (we are going to do 6) examples of indirect characterization
(Miranda Gomez and myself) http://mgomezrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
MY PART: (3 examples of indirect characterization)
Credit to: eChaucer
(Chaucer in the Twenty-first century)
http://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/03milt.html
Ex1) Lines 3276-3280: "Surely, unless you will love me,
sweetheart, I shall die for my secret love of you. And he held her hard by the
thighs and said, "Sweetheart, love me now, or I will die, may God save
me!"
-Through
this quote we are able to assume that the Miller Nicholas is lustful, stubborn,
disrespectful and smart because he know how to get what he wants even when he
knows it is wrong.
Ex2) Lines 3298-3300 : "No, have no fear about that,"
said Nicholas. "A clerk has spent his time poorly if he can not beguile a
carpenter!"
-In
this quote we are introduced to Nicolas’ pride and vain personality. He admits
that he is in a higher position than the carpenter and takes no shame in
tricking him for that is what he is supposed to do.
Ex3)
Lines 3805-3810: This Nicholas had risen to take a piss, and he thought he
would contribute to the joke; he should kiss him before he ran off! And he
threw up the window in haste and quietly put his ass out--past the buttocks,
all the way to the thigh-bone. Thereupon spoke this clerk Absalom, Speak, sweet
bird, I know not where thou art. This Nicholas then let fly a fart as great as
a thunder-clap, so much so that with the stroke Absalom was almost blinded; and
he was ready with his hot iron and smote Nicholas on the ass.
-Here
we just witness how confident and willing Nicholas is. He takes pride in his
plans and enjoys being able to beguile others. He has a wicked edge to him.
2. What is Chaucer's purpose in telling this character's
tale? Is he satirizing society, giving the voiceless a voice, or trying
to accomplish a different goal? [Support your argument with textual
evidence.] (Vanessa Vargas) http://vanessavargasrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
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